When dealing with Dutch Death Metal, one must have in mind that is dealing with two different trenches of the genre: one has more traditional bands, with acts as SINISTER, ASPHYX and others are the ones that respect the traditional Death Metal elements; on the other hand are GOREFEST and GOD DETHRONED, the others that never denied to evolve and use new elements on their musical work. And the veteran BLOODPHEMY, with 20 years of experience on its shoulders, is here to unleash its fury with “Dawn Of Malevolence”. As the band’s fifth album, one can expect a mature and defined sonority.

And it is, as the quintet prefers to use a more traditional Death Metal outfit, brutal and aggressive, with those ‘kingian’ noisy guitar solos and all. But one can detect some different elements, as some Death ‘n’ Roll touches (as heard on “Sanity Obfuscation”) and even some noisy and Blackened Death Metal melodies (as heard on some points of “Therapeutic Torturing”). It means that they have a personal insight on their own musical work, and it’s filled with that massive and brutal energy of the genre. It’s a delight for the fans of Death Metal, indeed. The production aligns the Death Metal model of sonority to a modern and defined outfit. It means that the album sounds brutal and oppressive, solid and massive, but in a way that, if it respects the Old School Death Metal paradigm, it bears a defined and well-cared sonority that allows the fans to understand what’s being played as well, and without any problem.

As an experienced act, the quintet knows what’s doing on the album, and its brutal offering is really very good. Take a listen to “Convoluted Reality” (a brutal and traditional Death Metal with excellent work on bass guitar and drums, with many rhythmic shifts), “Therapeutic Torturing” (a massive and nasty song where the band uses ‘untraditional’ traits, with Death ‘n’ Roll moments and some nasty melodies contrasting with the screams and grunts of the vocals), “Metamorphic Disposition” (a bonus track for the physical copies, with a brutal Death/Thrash Metal appeal and with amazing guitar riffs and arrangements), “Sanity Obfuscation” (pay close attention to the Death ‘n’ Roll moments and more melodic appeal on the guitar solos), “Demented Masquerade” (again the band uses some Blackened Death Metal elements to temper the musical fury shown on this one), “Dawn of Malevolence” (where the band is using a more Traditional Death Metal outfit on its arrangements), and “From Suffering to Violence” and you’ll see what these Dutch quintet is able to do.

As final words, BLOODPHEMY deserves applause for being active for all this time, and still have the passion and guts to offer an album as “Dawn of Malevolence” to their fans. Better saying, to all Metal fans.