Scandinavia and Poland are the home of the heaviest Metal you can get with bands emerging from it such as BEHEMOTH, VADER and DECAPITATED but the next band joining that list is NORTHERN PLAGUE from the cold winds of Poland. Their newest release ''Manifesto'' is the product of their hard work since their formation and touring relentlessly with bands such as DECAPITATED and VADER and their new album is so perfect it could rival classic death metal bands.

''Century Of Waste'' is the first of many songs which are completely mind blowing on ''Manifesto'' and there is no shortage of memorable riffs. All parts of this track are classic Technical Death Metal with its excruciatingly fast blast beats and fills by Damyenn to its complex continuous riffs by Janus which Fenris's vocals are made to sound even more perfect than they are. The track is sheer brutality at its finest with the solo at 3.22 making ''Century Of Waste'' darker than it already is. Opening up with more of a Black Metal influence ''Divide Et Impera'' it definitely does not leave out it's extremely fast paced technical drums. Fenris's vocals sound like a demon from the deepest pits of hell which is only made better by the whirring riffs involved which make the blackened Death Metal track only easier to head bang too with yet again Janus bringing in a astonishing solo at 2.47 which makes you think, is there anything that NORTHERN PLAUGE can't do?

''Reign Mother War'' is the proof you need that ''Manifesto'' is an album to rival any classic death metal album. Distorted guitars with an eerie atmosphere with blast beats to make FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE jealous, it seems NORTHERN PLAGUE have created a perfect technical recipe for brutality. But the main point in this song is the astonishing minute long solo from Janus which is so ridiculously heavy it's impossible to listen to without wind milling or listening in shock to how amazing the solo is which can only be complimented by its ridiculous drums by Damyus which makes it sound even heavier. ''Reign Mother War'' is a track which makes bands like NECROPHAGIST sound pathetic. With every track NORTHERN PLAGUE take it to a darker level and make it even heavier making ''Let The World Burn'' no different. Though the band has extracted most of the technically which is in the other tracks they have turned this song into a classic Black Metal influenced song which is slow & heavy but with an edge to it which stands out from the rest. Fenris's vocal talents really stands out in this track as the other members take a back seat until Janus breaks the song in with a Black Metal oriented solo at 4.14 joined by the blast beats which could be mistaken for DARKTHRONE.

NORTHERN PLAGUE have brought in more influences with a slight thrash tone in the guitars of ''The Edge''. Sadly it is the weakest part of the album with some guitar parts sounding out of tune and out of place but another one of Janus's solo's does make up for it though it is hard to live up to his previous solos. The song is still technical but it really is missing something in comparison to tracks like ''Reign Mother War''. Fenris's vocals and lyrical content take a darker depth in ''Legion'' which is blackened Death at its finest. Slow with a little Doom Metal inserted Janus creates an eerie atmosphere on his guitar with simplistic but effective riffs with Damyen doing exactly the same on his drums. Sadly ''Legion'' is prolonged and would be better if it was 2 and half minutes shorter but it's a great song for fans of OBITUARY.

Damyen takes centre stage with his drum skills in the intro of penultimate track ''Unclean Words'' which only makes all other members sound better. Fenris's lyrics are ghastly brutal like his vocals which sound like a creature from a horror film only to be followed by a superb solo from Janus which constantly changes speeds. Though the song is as heavy as it can possibly get the guitars are a tad disappointing though Janus can always pull out an amazing solo, his rhythm just does not work well in the track. Opening with a extremely dreary Doom intro, closing song ''Manifesto'' is good but not perfect. Producing yet more blackened Death following its Polish counterparts BEHEMOTH it has memorable guitar and drum work with the bass tones of Ghorkah being featured heavily. For a closing track it's disappointing but still good.

Overall NORTHERN PLAGUE have produced an astonishing album with only a few weak songs. ''Manifesto'' is a near perfect album which should be listened to all Death Metal fans, NORTHERN PLAGUE are the next big thing in the Metal genre and there is no doubt about that.