The ever-neutral Switzerland has always had a fascination with heavy music. From the forefathers of Black Metal HELLHAMMER and its following incarnations to the constantly developing madness that is SAMAEL. It is however yet to place itself onto the Death/ Deathcore map. A genre that is progressing forward at a great pace, can ATTACK VERTICAL make their mark before they miss it entirely?

Despite forming in 1999 this is only the second album that ATTACK VERTICAL have produced, a follow up to 2011's solid "This Glorious World". "The Great Waste" leans heavily on the more melodic side of the Death / Deathcore spectrum without relinquishing some bile and bite however. It is still roughened around edges; make no mistake about it.

The opening 10 seconds of "Black Sea" displays perfectly what ATTACK VERTICAL are. With just enough Groove Metal swagger to blend with the technical drum patterns and heavily down tuned guitars, it is a monolithic track. Spicing things up with a tremolo picked lead line over what is perhaps a run of the mill beat down it ends a little too soon. Almost as if there is more of the story to tell.

The deliciously harsh vocals of front man Henrique Freitas work well with the nature of this album, never leading the way in the mix but rather sitting and brooding deep within them. The vocals get their time to shine on the title track "The Great Waste", a 3 and a half minute joyride that turns everything up to 11 and showcases just was ATTACK VERTICAL can do when giving the right ideas.

It is a shame then, when the remaining tracks on this album do little to keep the spark going. "The Way to Purify" plods along without going anyplace of note, whilst "End of Life Demanded" feels cluttered and disjoined when compared to the rest of the album. There is however great promise shown here, you just have to scratch beneath the surface to find it.<