What would you do for a Klondike bar? As humans, we are faced with this question almost every day. What would you do? Would you jump off a cliff? Would you wrestle a bear? Would you write an hour-long Death Metal album that is boring and bland beyond measure? It seems as if BLOODY BROTHERHOOD were faced with this question, and they chose to make an hour-long Death Metal album that is boring and bland beyond measure.

Obviously, this isn't the case; I just wanted a good lead, but it is accurate to say that the second album from Spain's BLOODY BROTHERHOOD is nothing short of dull. The riffs are all basic, the melodies are mostly underwhelming and the length of the songs on top of the lack of decent riff-age make the album exhausting.

Right off the bat with this release there are songwriting issues, most of which come from lack of transitions. "Into the Darkness" has an intro that never does flow into the main riff. Instead, the poorly executed intro stops before it has any significant impact, waits a few beats, and then goes into the riffs that do not even correspond with what originally introduced the song.

"Behind the Sacrifice," the album's nine-minute closer, is the guiltiest when it comes to not using transitions. The intro, something that sounds like a cross-faded Eddie Van Halen being beaten with a baseball bat in the middle of a solo, does not relate to anything about this song or the album itself. There is then a "technical" riff that plays about 12 times before stopping and going into their normal, Death Metal style.

The point is that these moments that do not have transitions make certain parts of the music seem pointless. This is especially significant since each song on here is anywhere from five to nine minutes in length, with the exception of a few. In other words, if these guys cut more from their music, not only would it sound better, but it would also be easier to digest as the songs would be shorter.

That brings me to the length of the album. With the riffs and melodies being so bland and unoriginal, and the songs are so long, it becomes exhausting. It's very hard to take this album in one listen. Songs like "The Impaler" and "Don't Break the Circle" drone by without deviation. Both of these tracks are in the seven to eight-minute time range. Listening to nothing but the same five or six riffs tossed around for that long is exhausting.

With the negatives aside, there are several moments I enjoyed. It seems that the second half of the album has more to offer as songs like "Death to False King" and "Massacre in the Gates of Fire" deliver better song structure and riff-age.

"Death to False King" was one of my personal favorites. It had a good chorus that is memorable as well as a post-chorus that featured a choir. The guitars chugged over the choir creating a simple yet very effective, dark atmosphere. One thing I did not like about the song was the end. The last choral section behind the chorus was awesome and provided perfect closure, however, the last verse (taking up the remaining 15 seconds of the song) killed that closure.

My second favorite track was "Massacre in the Gates of Fire". The riffs were a little better than the bland ones that plague the rest of the album and the song has great flow. The most notable moment was near the end where a really good breakdown hit. It is sort of like a slam, and it almost reminded me of INTERNAL BLEEDING. It is introduced with sinister grunts from the vocalist and happens with perfect timing.

What is presented on the latest offering from BLOODY BROTHERHOOD is not special. While there is a lot of potential, the riffs and concepts are too bland to fully enjoy, and the overly long length is what ends up killing the record.