So after their well-received latest full length album release "Return to the Void" last year, EXECRATION has made a reissue of their debut album "Syndicate of Lethargy" which goes back to a decade ago. Originally released in 2008 through VENDLUS Records, this time its been reissued by PRC Music Canada.

The album starts off with a beast of a song in "Fleshfire". It is full of gargly gang vocals and thick chaotic riffs, but not without occasionally sharp shifts in the guitar work. The drums are fast paced and compliment the guitars perfectly. The bass does make its presence felt in rare occasions, reminiscent of the way bass is used in CANNIBAL CORPSE's sound. It's Death Metal, leaning towards the Technical side, but not there quite yet. "Disciples of the Suffering" is more like a call for seasoned Death Metal fans to jump into the pit and destroy themselves. Its unadulterated pure Death Metal riffage, but more of an atmospheric new school style. The title track "Syndicate of Lethargy" is both much more rhythmic and chaotic at the same time. The vocals constantly feel underwhelming, and wish it was louder in its production. "Kuroi Kiri" is less impressive as it doesn't bring anything new to the table, both in terms of riffs or tempo. It does have a few cheesy guitar solos sprinkled in the middle though, but sadly is not enough to save the song for me.

"Swarming Locusts" ups the tempo of chaos and in a weird fashion, the sounds different and appealing, may be it's partly due to the slow tempo atmospheric parts in the middle. Got to say, I am a sucker for slow tempo Death Metal riffs. It's an 8 minute song, but I thoroughly enjoyed the chaos for the most part, barring the screeching noise towards the end of the song. "Voracious" is one of the more impressive songs in here, due to the clean screaming vocals and poor production. Yes, somehow the poor production works here greatly unlike the 1^st few songs. There are influences of great Death Metal bands such as SUFFOCATION that can be felt all over this music here. The very intelligently titled "Subconscious Warfare" has some very unique song structures and riffs that I can't say are catchy, but sure are very technical and great for ears of seasoned Death Metal fans. The 1^st time that I heard this song

"Submission to Falsities", it shocked me. It starts off with a woman calling for young men in the United States for become more radical calling for religious violence to defeat the radical versions of other religions from eastern countries, and it also ends with the lady repeating the claim "They are so usable in Christianity", adding so much hype and drama to the song. The music itself doesn't take any cautious steps either. Its atmospheric Death Metal injected with maximum chaos to destroy and please your ears at the same time. The old school styled riffs really what makes EXECRATION the band that it is. The album ends with an 11 min song in "Clinging to Existence" which sprinkles in really cool solos, amidst a sea of atmospheric Death Metal sound, which doesn't test your patience one bit, except for the last minute which is nothing more than a sound of a dying riff.

This is a great Reissue of a great Death Metal album, one not without any flaws, but has some great parts. The vocals could have been louder, and may be that's due to the production here, and some of the song writing in the middle was repetitive, but barring that, this is an album that seasoned Death Metal fans should pick it, if they haven't yet.