Death Metal has become one of those genres drowning in an onslaught of bands, which has naturally made traversing the landscape monotonous. The sheer quantity of "decent enough" bands unfortunately means that genuinely good songwriting is ignored, simply because it isn't fresh enough or doesn't rewrite the rule books. Quick, furious and straight to the point, CRYPTIVORE have created a solid slab of Death Metal with "Unseen Divinity" that pleases, but fails to blow minds. If you want a brief foray into grooving, old school Death Metal, you can do no wrong here, but a general lack of creativity restricts CRYPTIVORE. Unfortunately they blend into the homogenized masses of local Death Metal, failing to stand out in anyway whatsoever.

Each song on the record feels like a product of love and good intention, but despite moments of interest, particularly in songs such as "Smoking The Vatican (Low & Slow)" and "Involuntary Septic Adultery," most songs are forgotten instantly. Especially with tracks as brief as these (2 minutes 20 seconds is the longest run-time), the music presented feels less like a piece of music and more like a white noise generator being switched on and off repeatedly. Even the band themselves seem to be aware of this, as the album includes a pointless outro track (imaginatively titled "Outro (Paralysis)") and 3 bonus tracks. However, regardless of the quality of these bonus tracks (it is relatively more of the same) these tracks shall not factor into my final score. Bonus tracks are for the likes of METALLICA or KISS, when the overlords at Walmart want an extra track to convince consumers to buy the album there. I am aware this record is a remake of old demos, but stitching on extra songs as a bribe to get people to re-purchase the same music feels cruel. Especially so when the originals are produced much better, and with a quality fitting the genre.

Unfortunately bribe is the appropriate term, as the production of this remake (i.e. the only thing that truly matters as these songs have already been released) leaves a lot to be desired. The main offender in regards to the production is the snare drum, which is quite possibly one of the weakest snare sounds I have heard in years. The snare drum is incredibly vital in music, particularly in Metal. A bad snare sound can sap the life from previously excellent material. A snare drum in this genre of music needs to kick the listener in the head. An aggressive statement of intent, that physically moves and assaults the listener. However, the snare drum on display here is much more akin to being gently stroked with a wet and rotting velvet glove. It kills other wise groove heavy sections, and blast beats sounds pathetic. It may seem like I am over-exaggerating here, and I am to make this review more entertaining, but with an album remake, the production is all that matters, so it should be flawless. This is not.

Another drop in an ocean with sea levels raising dangerously high, CRYPTIVORE struggle to make even a small ripple. The music here is perfectly enjoyable, and if you want some brainless entertainment (the equivalent of an awful zombie movie from the 70s) there is something for you here. However, the perfectly perfunctory is not exciting to write about. It is not exciting to listen to, and it is not exciting for the genre as a whole. Before I realized this was a remake, I was relatively impressed, but now this release feels lazy. You can find much worse music out there, but you can also find so much better. I recommend the original demo version over this neutered remake.