There are a lot of bands out there that try to mash different styles of Metal together with some pretty varied results. I am big fan of trying to combine two things that should go together, like a nursery and the occult. Some bands manage it perfectly and through their ingenuity a new style can be born or they could just create something that is the kind of unique you will only find in some obscure freak show in the back end of Alabama. The good kind of unique.

Quite a few of the bands that try and combine various styles seem to straddle so weird middle ground that is not particularly remarkable but also doesn't sound like shite. It's this strange middle land that TAKE OVER AND DESTROY seem to occupy.

The band have been knocking around for a few years now and they've been pretty busy. From their first E.P "Rotten Tide" to the recently released "Vacant Face" it is abundantly clear that they have been honing their sound. The sound in question is a bit of a chimera of influences. It's easy to tell that there is a heavy Black Metal and Death Metal influence over the whole thing but there are so many smaller things that seem to change the sound.

The album opens in much the same way as a lot of Metal albums these days with a gentle, maybe slightly electronic opening that quickly leads into a big, epic riff and some growly shouting (not necessarily a bad thing). The album then goes on this bizarre journey through gritty, almost Thrash sounding songs that have little to no production values and then on to very well polished Blackened Death style songs.

Musically this is a talented band and each member fits almost perfectly into the whole sound. I love the organ work (oo-er) and it doesn't come across as cheesy or out of place. The guitar is very well written and there are a few decent riffs that made my tired old head start nodding.

The vocals are, for the most part pretty good but there are a few songs where Chthon has layered up one too many effects and it just sounds amateurish. This is really my only gripe with the album, they are an experienced band but there are still moments that betray their lack of experience when it comes to production and effects use. It's difficult to nail those things and they really are what separate a band down the local pub from someone you would travel across the world to see.

I've rambled on a bit but all in all, TAKE OVER AND DESTROY are a good band. Sure they might not be a polished band that are ready for a world tour but they are definitely worth attention and maybe the more of that they receive, the more professional their music will become.