Born in the UK, and with a name the evokes the almighty BOLT THROWER, you can't just be messing around with playing rude and true. CELESTIAL SANCTUARY are definitely not messing around when it comes to creating a thick wall of sound with destructive power.

Heavy as a bulldozer rolling over your balls, this records blasts malevolence from start with the opening "Rid the Gormless", with an almost industrial guitar sound. Vocals are torn apart from the guts and come like from a deep pit of horror, very raw, with a reverb hall effect that makes it grab the strings sound by the neck and become an unstoppable headbang-inducing force. Drums sound powerful and full of rage, as if James wanted to beat the shit out of them.

The following tracks "Soul Diminished" and "Relentless Savagery" show a more mid-paced face of the band, without losing a single bit of brutality, just being ultra-heavy and at times sludgy and even groovy as in "Wretched Habits" a song that varies more constantly in tempo. Vocal combinations are also used to give more color to the music and it blends and works perfectly. At times, the sound of GRAVE around the "Into the Grave" years come to mind.

"Mass Extinction" is a song I personally enjoyed a lot, the riffing evokes 100% thew old school's best at sounding sick heavy. Although it starts with a slow pace, the song moves through various speeds and the whole thing just sounds massively evil. I know they are different bands with different sound, but there is something that makes me think of when I first listened to SKELETAL REMAINS, because I was amazed that there was a band that could really sound like my old school favorites from the golden era of Death Metal and still feel fresh; so does CELESTIAL SANCTUARY.

"Endless Chasm" is pure sickness, it makes your head bang from start, wherever they go with their sound it is always mysterious, dark and somber, with episodes of full fury, it is never venturing into the new sounds or virtuous melodic and technical efforts and resorts other bands have chosen to introduce into their sound, they are true to the dark roots of Death Metal.

If you are a fan of the old school DM sound then this is a must for you, a very well mixed and produced record with straight brutality and malevolence. Fans of ASPHYX, MORGOTH, GRAVE, GOD MACABRE, and AUTOPSY will be pleased.