DEIMLER is a Death Metal band from Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain. "A Thousand Suns" is the group's first full-length album, released by Xtreem Music on October 19, 2021.

One of the most under-appreciated forms of Death Metal, in my opinion, is Stockholm Death Metal. While it once burned hot and bright with bands such as ENTOMBED, DISMEMBER and GRAVE, it was soon eclipsed by the growing popularity of the more melodic, Gothenburg style and the ever-dominant Tampa Bay scene in America. Thus, it is nice to see DEIMLER showing an immense admiration for this raw, primitive and devastatingly heavy style of Death Metal. Everything from the buzz-saw tone to the zero-frills, all-adrenaline riffs shows exactly where this band gets their main inspiration from.

However, my one beef with this album is, to some extent, the production. It's 2022, folks; you could stand to mix the vocals in a little better with the guitars. Perhaps vocalist Pako Deimler (whose voice, by the way, is absolutely brutal and reminiscent of Death Metal giants like Martin Van Drunen of ASPHYX and BOLT THROWER's Karl Willets) would be better suited double or triple-tracking his vocals to give them more of a presence in the mix. Maybe it was a stylistic choice to go with the single-tracked vocals, thus giving the tracks a rawer feel, but it tends to leave the vocals indistinguishable from the grinding guitar tones and rumbling basslines.

Some highlights from this album include the title track, which sounds almost like it could belong on the ENTOMBED classic "Clandestine"; "Skull's Smiling" which has much more of a melodic, almost British Death Metal feel; "The Sentinels," one of the more chaotic songs in the track listing; "The Architect..." which starts off with one of my favorite riffs from the album; and "Tenth Masters Sections (Outro)," a mostly instrumental piece that brilliantly expands the instrumentation (i.e. the keyboard bits) without making the mix too messy.

I have to say, I applaud the work that DEIMLER has done on this LP. Is it, at times, too nostalgic for its own good? Perhaps. But the band has made no secret about which groups they take most of their inspiration from, and since it is only their first album, there is always room for experimentation. Again, the only suggestion I would make is to add more vocal layers so as to give them a bigger sound in the mix. Aside from that, here's looking forward to DEIMLER's next release!