Hailing from Belgium ATROXENTIS have been kicking around for quite a while on the Death Metal scene. This is their second full-length album after a 10-year gap. Their last album "Blood Heals my Wounds" was released in 2004. I hadn't come across these guys before but glad I've managed to get hold of their latest offering.

After the moody atmospheric intro "Ante Bellum" the album goes straight into probably my favourite track of the album "Initium Possessionis". ATROXENTIS hit the ground running and start things off with one of their fastest riffs. Something that sets this band apart from some of their contemporaries is Sven Naeije's drums. Not typical blast beats where you might expect them and nice to hear a bit of variety in his playing. Yannick Herbaux vocals are also stunning on this track and bring to mind MORBID ANGEL's David Vincent.

6 Tracks on this album and, apart from the intro, they are all over the 10-minute mark. Quite an ambitious undertaking for a lot of bands but ATROXENTIS pull it off by utilising a wide variety of ideas.

Worth mentioning is the quality of the production. Arkadiusz Malczewski, the sound engineer, who mixed and mastered the album has done an amazing job on this. Unsuprising perhaps as he's worked with bands such as BEHEMOTH, DECAPITATED and HATE. Every instrument is crystal clear. The guitar sounds huge, vocals are really upfront, and even the bass which can often get pushed to the background is easily heard.

ATROXENTIS delivers a solid slab of back to basics old school mid-tempo Death Metal. Takes me back to the glory days of early Death Metal. This is an album I could imagine myself buying on vinyl back in the 90's and sitting it along side the likes of BAPHOMET, OBITUARY, DEATH etc... Great stuff and highly recommended for those who like their Death Metal with some variety and not just brutality.<