Without any doubt Poland has given (and still does) birth to some most significant bands that come from the extreme Metal sound. Some band names, that immediately come into my mind are BEHEMOTH and VADER and the not so famous KAT. So, for an unknown reason I get positive vibes from any promo album that has Poland as the place of origin.
TOTEM fall into the aforementioned category since it is a band that was formed in January 2002 at the small city named Bukowno. During the mid of 2002 the band made its first discographic step by releasing the debut album Intro. The positive feedback, brought TOTEM on-stage performing in several places all over Poland. Their second album was entitled Day Before The End and was released in 2005 through Empire Records.
Metal Mind Productions thought that is would be a good idea to re-release this album and make it available to a wider Metal audience. The question is more than obvious; is this album worth of being re-released? Let me give an answer to this question by describing the audio content of this album.
The album opens with double drum pedalling and a distinct guitar riff that welcomes the male vocals of Marcin Auman Rdest who is no longer with the band. His vocals bring me to mind Max from SOULFLY (and from the other Brazilian band(?)) and that is an advantage to my ears. Probably you noticed that I talked about the male vocals; indeed, there is a lady that sings also, but before you start complaining about the overused and kind of boring beauty and the beast vocal concept let me tell you this: Wera shares the same (or maybe more) aggressive singing profile with Angela Gossow from ARCH ENEMY but unfortunately not her looks.  The track is really aggressive with that Heavy that will definitely make your head bang. I really love the Thrash groove and tempo that is solidified by the down-tuned guitars. The tormenting almost slow tempo of The Race (P.O.C.B.F.E.O.O.M.) is next along with so some very good guitar work, while Marry-Go-Round welcomes some more tribal grooves. Of course, among this Thrash sound you can spot some SLAYER influences that reveal themselves during the guitar leads and fills. The song with the cool title Thrash The South immediately became one of album's favourites bringing some GRIP INC atmosphere with the artificial harmonics and the catchy riffs while the compact as hell rhythm section is an excellent reason for some quality headbanging. Just imagine this song performed live with all the metalheads shouting thrash the south. To prove my saying, lend me your eyes and ears since the video clip for this track can be found below:
 
The band introduces a nightmarish atmosphere during the song For, that comprises some interesting vocal lines and a really nice guitar solo near the end. I am sure that the benighted listeners and reviewers will add that this album lacks of sound diversity and other gay stuff. Don't mind them and go ahead and enjoy the Thrash sound of TOTEM and also give two thumbs (or better horns) up for Metal Mind Productions for re-releasing the band's second album. In order to underline my writing here's another video with the band performing Thrash The South live: