Whether one chooses to admit to the chaotic discord pervasive throughout the globe makes it no less real.  As much as the populace tries to self-affirm that the human race has come so very far from the horrors that have played out time and time again through wars, sanctioned and unsanctioned, there is no denying that the pulses of our collective "better angels" are erratic at best.  Such widespread misery serves only to bolster the potency of art that chooses to examine the hidden nature of a so-called advanced and evolved species.  OMEGAVORTEX is such a project, one that seems to feed off the negativity churned up throughout media accounts of a world in flames.  Perhaps the band's lyrics depart from displaying the influence of a powder keg society, but it is far too arduous a task to put such a tenaciously delivered debut in a light other than one reflected by the latent, dismal themes running through societal discourse.  OMEGAVORTEX, in fact, may be just what the world needs, a primal scream to exorcise the demons...or, enlist their aid in the reclamation of personal autonomy across the board in a corporate-owned world enslaved to profit reports behind the closed doors of secrecy.

When listening to the ear-splitting, cacophonous assault of the first track, "Netherworld Descendant," one cannot help but become ensconced in the milieu.  A ferocity of untold surreptitious propensity is inescapable.  Relentlessly pummeled, walking away from such a torrid display can be akin to escaping the hell of WWI 's trench warfare or the unspeakable horrors born from the dreaded siege of Stalingrad where the shadow of humanity swiftly evaporated with unmitigated devastation.  There are malevolent machinations of Black Metal teamed with the militancy of the most extreme of Death Metal rounded out with the kind of brooding hatred and nihilism of acts as disparate as PORTAL and DEATHSPELL OMEGA.  In short, this is a ravenous start, one sure to enlist the most dedicated adherents of the outermost margins of what is most aptly labeled Extreme Metal.

After such a jarring first track, it is not unreasonable to have set a bar, knowingly or not, a voracious craving for vicious, portentous hymns to our primal nature.  Yet, how can OMEGAVORTEX top such an opener?  Or expand upon it?  Having set such a high bar, these are indeed pressing questions to be considered.

The answers come in the form of expanding upon the blueprint established so early on.  This is of course evidenced by the fiery following track, "Cosmic Horror Maelstrom," a most appropriate title.  There is a dizzying sense of unease, instability exacerbated by the myriad, maniacally swirling riffs.  At the 1:50 mark, though, the unexpected happens when a sudden drop of silence erupts into a riotous, Molotov cocktail of a breakdown - yes, a breakdown.  No, this is not of the Hardcore/Slam/Deathcore variety of overused, generic tropes, but rather taking a cue directly from one of the primary progenitors of the art, MORBID ANGEL.  It is a sudden drop in tempo from the drummer which serves to accentuate the brutality of the guitars as OMEGAVORTEX have upped the ante in displaying such a rabid penchant for the oft-ignored, vitally essential concept of dynamics.

The production successfully aids in the sheer velocity of the sound, a life blood as essential as uranium to nuclear warfare.  Like an apocalyptic, extinction-level event, the album plays through never quite lifting the fog of the nascent radiation cloud.  There is a clarity, though, which is employed, not to the detraction of efficacy but rather to its benefit.  A careful balance is struck, one informed by the necessity of clarity to be tempered with its own requisite atmosphere.  This is indeed an album with a unique character, the promulgation of the intent behind the songs realized by a recording presenting the band as they are, bereft of an over-arching coloring of the sound.  Such is the mark of a truly effective production, an ideal one that seeks not to enhance or detract but instead to operate with a much-needed transparency.

To speak to the instrumentation within, it is firstly impressive how the bass is made into such an integral component, or rather, to be allowed to shine as such.  While the low end is so often buried in Extreme Metal, OMEGAVORTEX have the prescience to realize its true import.  The guitars are the obvious focus and as such establish an equitable equilibrium between chunky palm-muted sections and the anarchy of riffs that seem to span the very length of the fret board in the effort of creating such richly varied parts.  The percussion performance is one devoid of unnatural clicking, popping bass drums but rather reinforced by a stoic fidelity.

Other moments of note include the ferocity of the fifth track, "Soul Harvest," and the strength of the staccato-driven approach of the instrumental eighth track, "From Obscurity".  For a debut, it is prodigiously impressive how firmly entrenched OMEGAVORTEX is with a sound tempered in diversity and dynamics.  Throughout the album the band assaults the listener with its balance of martial prowess and tasteful discernment.  Overall, the fact that this is one of the most gripping, devastating releases of late is simply undeniable.