So let's address the elephant in the room straight away; yes, the band name is as cheesy as anything, and the song titles are, for the most part, standard Death Metal staples that have been used time and time again. Yes, the album art is fairly unoriginal and one-dimensional, and not all that inspiring, when all's said and done.

However, the music itself is a different story; as this is one Death Metal band that understands the value of playing their guitars in more than one tone. Far too often, Death Metal bands think it's okay to just whack their drums and shred on their guitars for minutes on end, and that so long as somebody's death-growling over the top, somebody will like it. While this is sadly true, it doesn't even come close to a band who puts the effort in to create something with rhythm and style, and that's exactly the category that German band DEATHRONATION fits into.

Another thing they get right is the ability to produce suitably demonic vocals that fit within the genre, while also not making them cringe-worthy or detracting from the instruments. The oddly named Stiff Old does them right; half-growling and half-shouting to create a hoarse, harsh expression of aggression.

The album begins well, with "Deathchant Assyria" demonstrating the band's ability to change tempos smoothly during songs to make them that much more interesting. "Spiritual Relief" does the same, bringing a beautifully heavy riff with every slow-tempo section, as well as introducing a female vocal section to shake things up a bit, however briefly. After some fantastic drumming, we learn that the band is capable of winding songs down, as well as cranking them up, as this track as well as the majority of its followers utilize nice, creative outros, with "Age Of Whoros" (you just did a double-take, didn't you?), in particular, standing out with a guitar riff transitioning into a piano before the closing of the album.

With the exception of this final song, the second half of the album loses a bit off the steam built up in the first half, as the guitars seem, somehow, more monotone and less imaginative in tracks 5, 6 and 7. The main thing that peaked my interest during this half was the song name "Steelpanther's Fist", which I couldn't help but think must be somehow related to the band STEEL PANTHER. Due to the nature of Death Metal vocals, however, I doubt I'll ever know what the relation is, if there even is one.

So in conclusion what we have here is five very enjoyable Death Metal tracks and three mediocre ones, packaged with some rather predictable album art and song names. This doesn't sound like it adds up to much, but as the genre goes there is a decent amount of creativity here and the majority of the release is definitely worth listening to, especially if you don't think you like Death Metal.<