Ready for some brutality mates? The Dutch extreme metallers SEVERE TORTURE are back more mature than ever with their second album for Earache Records and are willing to show the world what real Dutch Death Metal means. I was impatiently waiting to listen to their new album and now I have the chance to do it thanks to the kind person by the name Grigoris, who assigned me to this promo CD. Let the butchering begin!

The Dutch death metallers started back in 1997. Since then, they have released three incredible Death Metal albums that have made them well known to the Metal scene. Their fourth full-length work stakes the band on step further and shows that SEVERE TORTURE will settle for nothing more than perfection. I still remember my amazement when I first listened to their incredible debut Feasting On Blood (2000).

SEVERE TORTURE seem to have reduced the Grind parts and are more into a brutal Death Metal style now. Basically, this album can be described as a Death Metal onslaught. Pretty close - musically - to titans like SUFFOCATION and VILE, they are based on relentless blasts and mid tempo Death Metal holocaust to unleash their technical and poisonous riffing. The band has increased the level of technique they use in their music and the vocals have become a bit rawer. The riffs are much more memorable than they were in their previous albums and Patrick's clever bass lines are more visible than ever! One more thing that makes this album more interesting is the guest appearances by Jason Netherton (MISERY INDEX) and Che Snelping (ex-BORN FROM PAIN), who perform guest vocals in Buried Hatchet.

I heard some people saying things like the best SEVERE TORTURE album to date and stuff like that. I don't want to get into this comparing albums thing, but I can definitely say that Sworn Vengeance is a pretty strong and brutal Death Metal album that will be among the competitors for the top Death Metal releases of 2007. Deathsters should definitely check it out!