BÖLZER release their third EP since forming in 2008. This is also the first release via Lightning & Sons.  Sometimes just from looking at the lineup you can see potential issues for the sound, for instance, there is no Bass here at all and you could look at that as an issue for sound, we have seen bands in the past do it, and it fail, but we have seen some do it and it produce a good sound. We will have to go into this to find out. Whilst thinking how will, they create a melody with just two instruments. Let us find out.

"A Shepherd in Wolven Skin" starts with a slight distorted melody; you can tell it is done to suit purpose, not a production issue. The vocals stand out, nit that they overpower the drums and guitars, but the power behind them emphasizes their important, it is a great attribute to hear. The faster, Black vocals go together better with the instrumental melodies being forged. The slower vocals are not needed, but add a depth for you to appreciate the faster vocals once they have returned.  The buildup instrumentally is decent, but there is a distinctive lack of Bass to act as the glue to hold it together. The faster guitar riffs work brilliantly for the sound, so the Bass isn't missed as much as you may think they would have been. A good start. "Æstivation" is a very short song, it has spoken word instead of vocals, but very little melody, it seems like an intro more than an actual song. It does not really go anywhere or do anything, so the placement of the song leaves some questioning why it was there.

"Into the Temple of Spears" does not work off the sound of "Æstivation" at all, which just makes that song even more pointless. The buildup of melodies here is slower than "A Shepherd in Wolven Skin", but shows a good balance and control in the song to take it through. This has a Blackened Death Meal approach to it that suits the pace they have chosen. The lack of bass is apparent again, as it fails to run as smoothly as we would like it to, that being said, it is not a bad song at all. "Ave Fluvius! Danú Be Praised!" takes ages to do anything. I was not sure it was even playing for the first minute as you see it is a 12-minute song, you know the overall feel to the album is going to change. Only issue is that the change is not enough to create too many new depths to the song or EP. This song could become background noise, as the tempo has diminished. This song, is nothing special, could have shown off more skills and taken the sound into new areas.

This EP has great potential to take the sound into new areas, and I feel that progression into a full-length album would be a great thing to help support the great sound this album has given. As with most EP releases, it leaves us wanting more, for it to have gone on longer, so well played. We just want to see where these sounds could go given time