For a long time I longed for a good melodic, old school style, Extreme Metal album. Well, most of the Extreme Metal that I like comes from the worlds of old school Death Metal and the old Gothenburg facade. Lately, I got this CD from an independent band from Canada, named CHARIOTS OF THE GODS. When I first spinned it I thought I was thrown back in time to the year 1990 in Sweden. Back then, the raw form of Melodic Death Metal emerged. It was a full-time party for everyone as a new sub-genre was discovered. Bands like IN FLAMES, DARK TRANQULLITY, AT THE GATES and countless of other extreme went melodic as well even outside of Sweden.

Unfortunately, on the way of the progressive manner of the sub-genre, in courses of sound, approach etc., not every band, veteran or newcomer, stayed loyal to what the melodic impact that started back then. In fact, many of those bands turned to the modern side of Death and some even turned to bloody Metalcore acts. When I look at CHARIOTS OF THE GODS, I see a band to admire. The 00's era is not the early 90's, yet, they chose to rely on the old school as their guide. With their new impressive EP, "Reverence", I saw hope for the melodic Swedish flavor, whether displayed on the production, material and atmosphere.

Through their diverse melodies, I heard MAIDEN,HELLOWEEN and IN FLAMES("The Jester Race" and "Lunar Strain" albums). The amazing collaboration of Heavy Metal and Death Metal is something else. With the addition of high form material, including killing solos, vast melodies, CARCASS/AT THE GATES like vocals, and Heavy/Thrash Metal riffs as strong outfits. CHARIOTS OF THE GODSshowed class with their raw like features. Their unwillingness to go modern as the most of the acts out there is what will keep them special for the next steps of their history. Let us hope that they will not fold and choose the easy way to become more popular. Believe me when I say it, the true art of old school Death Metal is alive and well, and with it melodic image, it is no less than perfect.

Check out cool highlights from the EP as"Exiles" and "Chariots Of The Gods". The others, "Signs Of A Dead World" and "The Defying Ones" are cool and show the band in good shape, yet, the rather more epical side of the band is within the duo of tracks mentioned before as those sound special and flowing.