The darkness is upon us, and there is no way to escape. The sermon takes its place as the next horrific emblem to lead the charge, a vicious assault on the mind, inflicting pain and suffering. When you wish to discourse about woe and anguish, you ought to mention the supposed new rising stars in modern Metal music, DARK SERMON, out of the once classic Death Metal manifestation of Tampa, Florida. Their signing to Nuclear Blast Records had me interested, as reaching that giant label is something to be talked about. Their debut album, "In Tongues", preaches, more accurately screams, of what the American Metal scene has become with sounds and directives of contemporary Death / Hardcore as JOB FOR A COWBOY, SHADOWS FALL, THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, GOJIRA, THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN, HATEBREED, LAMB OF GOD and list can go on and on, almost without a stop sign to turn the off-switch to end the infliction. Though I saw something in these guys, as their efforts weren't half bad, I will start by claiming that it started, and sadly ended, as another drop in a black swarm that has be leeching and eating away the old guard.

I believe that best thing that ever happened to this band is their twin guitarists and their machine like drummer. Though the vocals usually come to mind first in line, I decided to toss the vocal line aside, as it was pretty much common to the genre without making any difference or renewing anything. Sometimes it was a bit tiring to listen to the singer spewing blood all over the place with his screamos and shrieks. As far as the riffing goes, the large part of the rhythm guitars' riffs twisted and burned as this fusion genre has been affecting. I sensed that there was an effort to slightly step out of the systematic formulation of Deathcore, and there were a few fine examples, al'a GOJIRA, spread out through the songs, but in general, the controlling factor of the fretwork was more or less the basics. The lead guitars were surprising. Other than the so called modern Gothenburg melodies, which came and went quite often, DARK SERMON had the sense to write a few solo sections, adding a bit excitement along with upgrading the status of the guitar players. I wish there would be a bit more melodic segments, but what can a boy do. Following the rhythm section, this one seemed fairly tight. I was highly impressed by the skinner punching it through with crafty drumming, leave no reason to doubt his abilities. The drum rolls, as the others common to the genre, sounded challenging and forthright, battling to swallow the listener into the upcoming chaos.

Out of the band's fine measure of skill, "In Tongues" paved the way to several promising songs that the band can build upon its musical future. "The Shepherd's Staff", producing great melodies and tough riffing, "Hounds" and "The Scales of Justice" as the tough bastards of modern Thrash infused with smashing hammer of Deathcore, actually those sounded pretty deep. "Forfeit II: Worn Thin", way better the earlier tracker, and "Testament" spread the polished gruesomeness with just a bit of filth and skill. On the other hand, this band has a bit of work cut out for them until reaching a proud outcome. "In Tongues" is a sort of a cry out to strike hard and without remorse, determined and eager to ravage right from the start. I like this kind of vitality. However, its impact wasn't imminent as it dwelled the known fields with the same kind of antics.