Seattle, Washington based Melodic Death Metallers THE DEVILS OF LOUDUN are a band that have, over the course of their six years together, garnered a small cult following, establishing themselves within the American Death Metal landscape with their unique take on the genre. Their latest EP, "Entering Oblivion", at just under twenty minutes in length, captures the bands sound and style perfectly, making this a short, sharp shock of ferocious music from start to finish.

The short, titular track that constitutes the opening offering is a very melodic keyboard that sounds very interesting. It sets the rest of the EP up very well, and is a strong way to begin this record. The first full length track on here, "Dominion", is an excellent piece of melodic, keyboard laden Death Metal. The music is incredibly tight, and all the elements on offer here lock together perfectly. It has a very polished production, which helps to make the music sound as powerful as it can be. The guitar work on here is technical, but doesn't stray into the territory of pointless, self indulgent fretboard masturbation that many lesser bands are so prone to falling into. The leads are genuinely catchy, and at points it sounds hair-raisingly epic. The third track, "Born of Science", continues in this same vein, treating the listener to some brilliant, razor sharp riffs and sweet symphonic keyboard passages that really compliment and beef out the whole sound without completely drawing attention away from the rest of the music. "Guise of the Deceiver" has a much more ferocious sound to it, with much faster, harsher drumming and vocals than anything else on the record up to this point. The guitars and keyboards again provide the bulk of the hooks on here, and again, it sounds amazing. The final, bombastic offering on here is "The Marble Gallery", a song with plenty of great riffs, harsh vocals and awesome keyboard sections. It's a fitting end to a very, very good EP.

In less than twenty minutes, this band has managed to craft something that is not only more unique than what most underground Death Metal acts are peddling, but also significantly better. This is an example, at least in my opinion, of the way that Technical Death Metal should be heading.