Norway's UNCHAINED BEAST is probably one of the youngest bands I've ever had the pleasure to review, both in age and experience, "Guiding The Lamb" being their debut EP. Not sure I would call it an EP though, while it consists of only 5 songs, one of those being an intro, the EP actually clocks in at 29 minutes, and I know some death metal bands out there for whom this would be a full-fledged full length.

The intro is an atmospheric instrumental setting the mood that takes us into the opening title track, while the opening riff is cool, it overstays its welcome lasting over 1 minute for no apparent reason, and the repeating of the riff later in the song simply pronged it. "Gates of Dumbr", has a fantastic and melodic opening which gives way to a fast and heavy yet no less melodic Thrash riff, great guitar work pushes this song to outshine the duller opener. Then comes "The Infection of Mankind" which opens with excellent guitars, going through several riffs until speeding up at the 01:40 mark, the song ends with several pretty interesting paces and riff changes that while well executed, seem a bit out of place as the song seems to have ended about 90 seconds earlier. Acoustic guitar turning into an electric riff opens the closing track "Split of Conscience", the intro however is far too long, lasting over 2 minutes, and that is the whole problem with the EP. The band has ton of potential, and the execution as far as their playing is impeccable. The album itself however suffers heavily from the band prolonging songs to the point of the riff / pace changes seeming to not fit with what was previously heard.

Like I said, the band has potential, and had the songs been shorter this EP would have gotten a far higher mark, unfortunately the sheer length for no real reason takes some of the enjoyment of listening to this record away, and by doing so, it takes a few notches from the grade this EP is given.