German Black/Death/Crust Metal band DEPRAVATION formed in 2011. This is the band's third full-length album and it has nine songs. "Nur Enien Spalt" is the first. It's a very chaotic opener, with dark tones, rage-fueled screams, and machine gun drumming. It sounds much more like Black Metal than Death Metal. "Vampire Burial" is similar in pacing and in the sound. It's an uncompromising, thick display of traditional Black Metal. "War Dreams of Itself" is the first song where we get a bit of a breather; if only for the brief slow opening tones. From there, the riff explores a bit and doesn't conform to the Black Metal blueprint at first, but it eventually falls back.

"Involuntary Violence" is a heavier and more punishing offering but still with that same blueprint, although the weighted bass notes are a nice change. "In Schatten" is another violent and quick moving song with many of the same qualities as the others on the album, although the change of pacing is a bit varied. "Lessons of Darkness" begins with clean, solemn guitars and a melancholy, depressive sound. But the maddening sound soon returns, and with a marked vengeance. "Certain Death" is similar to the other songs, without much of a varied identity. This is my biggest problem with an album...when the songs bleed together too much because of the band's need to just create a brutal sound track.

"Suffering" is another song with brutal leanings and a 1000-mile and hour pace and with more chaotic elements. "Sadness" closes the album, and it true to the title. Despondent tones open the song, with clean guitars. It picks up from there and is more angry than sad. This is an instrumental where the vocals don't shadow the work. As I mentioned, this is closer to Black Metal than anything else, and also close to the FWOBM sounds of yesteryear. Unfortunately, because of the latter, it really doesn't offer anything new in the genre. The band is brutal, there is no doubt about that. But there are far more important things to this reviewer.