Well, sometimes we have to face (or better yet hear) bands that aren't doing anything different from what we've heard many times before. And we can approach this in two different ways: we can accept the band as simply just another addition to the genre, or we can really have a severe critical point (or many) about their work.

In the case of the quintet SPINEBREAKER, which comes from San Jose, California (USA), we can say that they are good; but "Ice Grave", their first album, clearly shows that they need to evolve a lot.

They are good, but their style has been used time and time again for more than 20 years. It's that good old Death Metal style with some Hardcore influences; which reminds a lot of Swedish Death Metal bands like ENTOMBED and DISMEMBER - particularly on their earlier and rawer works. However, it lacks the same brilliant personality of those two, because being a good Death Metal band is more than the quality of recording and how fast you can play; it's a matter of personality. They do have some good points - like the use of shrieked voices instead of guttural grunts - but their somewhat simple music can't compete in a genre full of great names.

The sound quality is raw, keeping a lot with the same type used by the giants in the past. Yet back in those times, the bands had nothing to lose in doing things that way, so to sound raw and bitter like this in our day is not something that is really necessary. You can sound aggressive with a clean sound quality too.

On their eleven songs (because "Enter the Storm..." is just an intro), we can really feel that they have talent. It's clear when we hear songs like "...into the Ice Grave" (with good fast tempos); "Internal Bleeding" (where some good riffs appear); the fast and aggressive "Severed Denial"; the bitter ones "River of Pain" and "Slithering Tyrant" (where some CELTIC FROST influences appear in the rhythm section); the slow "Withering in the Blizzard", and "Divine Mortal Being" that pack some nasty riffs. Yet they sound like many bands that came before them, in the likes of MORBID ANGEL, ENTOMBED, DISMEMBER or CANCER; ones they cannot match even at the best moments.

I'll say it again: they have musical talent, but they need to develop it. Yet as a first coming, "Ice Grave" is an album that shows a lot of potential. Use it guys!