One can ask when Thrash Metal and Death were fused and Thrash/Death Metal appeared. Honestly, there's no satisfying answer for such a question, because SLAYER showed a path for such fusion during "Haunting the Chapel" and "Hell Awaits" days (what happened definitively on "Reign in Blood"), but on Germany, KREATOR opened ways as well with "Pleasure to Kill", and SODOM, POSSESSED and DESTRUCTION did the same (and others as SEPULTURA gave their contributions as well). But the North American trio CYSTIC follows a way on the genre as well, as depicted on "Palace of Shadows", their first full length.

The trio's music is a primitive and Old School form of North American Death Metal of the 90s that uses Thrash Metal arrangements in a similar way to what DEATH did on "Leprosy" and "Spiritual Healing" age. The band shows an organic appeal as well, bearing the same features of the past with that crude outfit that prioritize aggressiveness, and it's truly primitive and straight to the core (what means that their songs stay away of any kind of refinements). It's grotesque, nasty and aggressive, staying away of anything that could be said 'modernized', but the energy of their songs compensates the endless clichés that are heard on the album.

Another trait that is clearly Old School on the trio's music is the sonority of "Palace of Shadows": crude and putrid, organic (it seems sometimes that the drums used are the acoustic ones) but dry to the point that understanding the songs isn't a problem at all. But it sounds an emulation of what was done in the past, trying to be an album of those days, and it's not fair with their music (maybe the band can look for Joel Grind on the next time, because he knows such genre).

Musically, the trio (now a quartet) is extremely primitive and needs to mature a bit more their musical efforts. But something good can come from the band, for they have potential, as shown on songs as "Pestilential Throne" (a slower song with some faster moments with some good bass guitar arrangements can be heard), "Palace of Shadows and Blood" (another moment that's good with slow speed, with that oppressive guitar riffs and arrangements creating a somber ambience), "Stygian Deeps" (when they show a set influences inherited of UK Death Metal School in some moments, especially due the drums), "XIII (A Reprise in Blood)" (another moment focused on slow paced tempos that enables the vocals to show their potential), and "Nebulus Legion (of the Somber Sea)". And maturing doesn't mean to change their musical personality, to change their appeal, but just to organize their efforts in a better way.

CYSTIC is a good band, but must understand that they're not a 90's Death Metal act. And the potential shown on "Palace of Shadows" can become great as they realize and accept such fact.