One of the great things about getting to review certain releases is that once in a while you will discover something that you had never heard of before and this is exactly one of those incidents as I was previously oblivious as to who HANNES GROSSMANN was. So naturally when I received his newest album to take a listen to I was surprised to find that not only is he an excellent drummer but also that he writes and arranges most of his music by himself before getting the other members of his band to flesh out his ideas into songs that he has composed. Speaking of which, the music on display on this his 2^nd album called The Crypts of Sleep is an amalgamation of Tech Death, a bit of Thrash and Growl vocals that give off a somewhat cold and futuristic vibe almost as if we were bearing witness to the inner machinations of a cybernetic lifeform.

Kicking off the album with ''To sow the seeds of Earth'' the listener is confronted by a complex yet cohesive groove that although is brutal still manages to include a sense of melody. What is impressive is that even as the songs gets faster and more extreme, the longer it progresses the sense of melody is never neglected which is particularly noticeable when the track goes into almost Black Metal territory on guitars and drums but is overlaid with a melodic vocal arrangement that at I at least was not expecting.

''Silence Speaks'' slows down the pace ever so slightly as it is not as quick out of the gate than the opening song, the vocals also never changing from the growls that in my opinion are better integrated into the song than on the previous track, a short break gives the listener a short time to catch his breath before reverting back to the riff that started the song.

''In the eye of the Storm'' is another belter with a killer chorus full of Melody giving the song an almost anthemic quality, as was previously mentioned the riffs and overall structure of the song is very melodic without losing any of its technical aspects. This is another example of how well the songs were put together and arranged.

Fourth song the aptly titled ''Hail Satan'' has is perhaps the standout song here as it combines all the previous elements with killer guitar solos and an irresistible groove that makes you simply want to jump into the nearest mosh pit and fuck shit up. For some reason parts of the song sound to me like a mix of Lamb of God and Unleashed with a sprinkling of Fear Factory and Meshuggah, the song slowing down to an almost crawling groove towards the end.

''Oceanborn'' begins with an acoustic riff that change into another almost mid-tempo song which eventually leads into a shuffling grove accentuated by well-placed acoustic guitars on top of the thick riffs. Halfway through the song it slows down and introduces a guitar solo that ranges from death metal right through to Maiden type playing showcasing the excellent musicianship on offer. As the song progresses it loses some of its technicality and settles down into an AMON AMARTH sounding riff before slowly fading out with another acoustic riff similar to the one that began the song.

Those already familiar with Hannes Grossman will be happy with this nine track album but should also be interesting to those Metal Heads that like a bit of melodic interplay with their technical Death Metal. Hell even those more inclined to traditional Heavy Metal should invest in this as some of the solos are truly epic.