One of the fiercer contenders of Finnish Death Metal has been ADRAMELECH, a scorching embodiment of Hell whose heyday was back in the early 90s. The Death Metal scene worldwide had a lot of great acts in the 90s, but Finland is regarded for creating the best quality of 90s Death. ADRAMELECH shared the scene with the likes of such Death Metal greats as ABHORRANCE, AMORPHIS, and CARTILAGE. ADRAMELECH began in 1991 but didn't release their debut album "Psychostasia" until 1996. Their sophomore album "Pure Blood Doom", originally released in 1999, has recently been reissued, remastered, and set to deliver the world another helping of infernal suffering. ADRAMELECH originally set out to level the Death Metal scene with a no holds barred match against your sanity.

ADRAMELECH comes to vanquish in "Centuries of Murder" and "Thule". Original vocalist Ali Leinio roves through the wastelands, terrorizing those picking at remains with his animalistic screams. An all-out hunt ensues with "Abomination 459" and "Season of the Predator", chock full of fast-paced disharmonic chords and churning maelstroms of thunderous beats. ADRAMELECH further shows no remorse in its final dealings, making you feel every ounce of pain that they feel every night in "Evercursed" and "Spawn of the Suffering". ADRAMELECH shows us just how much hate is in their hearts as well as their souls. The remastered edition of "Pure Blood Doom" obviously has a cleaner sound and a clearer tone, the only thing I disliked was what they did to update the artwork. I loved the original album cover and found the new (obviously digitalized) art less than impressive. At least they didn't mess with their sound too much.

Named after an Assyrian sun god, Adramelech is also classified as a demonic Chancellor and supervisor of Satan's wardrobe (a detail I have few doubts about as Adramelech is a horse demon [don't ask] depicted sporting a fabulous peacock tail). ADRAMELECH has clearly seen not only what Hell holds but also who rules it as they furiously deal out bone-vibrating bass, vomiting screams and foundation eroding drums. It's an all-out party in the pits of Hell where ADRAMELECH is from.