Canada was a driving force in Metal between the second half of the 70's to the turning between the first and the second half of the 80's. Names as ANVIL, VOIVOD, PILEDRIVER, EXCITER and others stormed the frontiers and took the world by assault. But due the lack of support from major labels back then, and the coming of the commercial success of Thrash Metal, many Canadian acts went into underground once more or entered on hiatuses. But as time passed by, Canada lands gave birth to extreme names as KATAKLYSM and CRYPTOPSY. So it's not strange to hear a Death Metal act as MARTIAL BARRAGE storming with their second album, "Agents of Wolf Age".

Their musical work is based on a trademark sonority that shows a particular approach that can be said as Canadian Death Metal: it's brutal and crude, but it's not poor in technical approach (remembering that Canadian extreme bands show such elements on their music). It's really oppressive and nasty, but with some technical parts that are inherited from names as SUFFOCATION and even CRYPTOPSY. So be prepared for a massive and volcanic assault, but with bonecrushing energy. The production was done in a way to keep the instrumental tunes crude and abrasive, but everything was worked in a form that allows their music to flow in a way that's really easy to understand. It could be better (especially on the tunes used on the snare drum), but's not bad at all.

The songs are really like a volcanic eruption, and will be easy for an extreme Metal fans to deal with, especially "Agents of the Wolf Age" (a fast and massive attack of excellent fast and technical guitar riffs and good solos), "Die Hermannsschlacht" (a violent song with fine rhythmic arrangements, for bass guitar and drums are really great), "Strategos" (this one has a more straight and forward musical outfit, and the grunts fit on the instrumental lays), and the rich arrangements of "Power is My Mistress" (some nasty melodies can be heard during the solos, along with some slower moments). This set is just to begin with, because all the songs are very good.

For now, MARTIAL BARRAGE is another good name in the Canadian extreme scene, so dive into what "Agents of the Wolf Age" offers to you.