Finnish Death Metallers, WRATHRONE, have released their first ever full-length album, "Born Beneath" under the label of Inverse Records. Coming from a nation that has been rated to have the most Metal bands per capita, it would seem like standing out is definitely a challenge, and with "Born Beneath", WRATHRONE makes a statement about their individuality and identity. Their old-school Death Metal is supplemented with subtle stylistic influences in their own musicality and sound, along with a different take on mixing instrumental production.

"Born Beneath" opens hard and heavy with the title track, and from the get-go, we can already tell the differences in instrumentation from most Death Metal bands (especially in the rhythmic section). The drumming from Mikael Ruoho is precise with its snare and double bass knocks, but the splashes are left wide and resonate more with the overall sound (as opposed to tight blast beats). The bass by Pekka Wärri, instead of being left low as a foundational rumble, is cranked high with a gritty, prominent tone that stands out even slightly in front of the electric guitars. This kind of sound is a sort of inverted pyramid from what most bands abide by, and it works in their favor. The guitars performed by Lauri Holm and Vili Mäkinen flip on a dime between Death and slightly Industrial for a short time, giving an early example on the stylistic flexibility that is to be expected with this album. All the while, the vocalist Matti Vehmas, growls with an impressive low guttural and is backed by Vili with some high-scream vocals, which fit well in contrast.

The album continues with "Age of Decadence", which has a nice fade-in and switches to some kind of brutal, Gothic, neo-classical Death Metal. This goes to show how diverse this band can really be, an example for what Death Metal artists can accomplish. It's as if WRATHRONE aims to prove the diversity of a genre that is stereotypically seen to follow a strict set of rules, and they achieve such with "Born Beneath".

Though the raised bass is noticeable in the album's first couple of songs, we don't get the full effect to until the intro to "Eternal Salvation", where we hear the overdriven grit and grind of the bass that stands out in front of the guitars. First starting without, then adding Lauri and Vili, we get the comparison to their sounds- a guide for the rest of the journey on effectively differentiating the two, adding more to the adventure that "Born Beneath" has to give. My only real complaint about this way of mixing the instruments is that the drums have been drowned out slightly, most of which is left are the cymbal splashes. The drumming style of Mikael has a lot to offer, and I'd like to hear it brought out just a bit more.

The album winds down to a low, slow, death roll when we hit "Flailing Flesh, Enduring Spirit", which has a moving line that's deep and profound, similar to that of a gargantuan beast's long, powerful strides as it walks along. It's in this song that the guitar and bass are mixed perfectly together, where have two separate riffs that work together and contrast with one another- more than just one instrument acting as support for one another. This technique is rare enough, it seems, in most modern Metal, and is kind of refreshing to hear such a young band execute it so well.

Quite possibly my favorite song on the album is "Sea of Sickness", which has a rhythmic line similar to that of a stereotypical sailor jig (hence the title), but with the added touch of brutality from the overdriven guitars and 10,000-leagues-deep growl of Matti, which is oddly fitting for such a tune. "Sea of Sickness" includes a guitar solo that's a bit simplistic for my tastes (especially in the realm of Death Metal), but grooves smoothly nonetheless.

The album picks back up to speed and ends as heavy as it started with the headbanging goodness of "Carnal Lust". It's in this tune that the classic Death Metal influences are more prominent and sounding something like off of CANNIBAL CORPSE'S debut record. Tremolo-guitar riffs hanging over low, rhythmic progressions, blast beats, and ripping growls- everything we love about Death Metal.

Overall, WRATHRONE wrote something with definite elements drawn from old-school Death Metal, but trademarked it with their own style of diversifying a genre which, let's be honest with ourselves, tends to have a very particular sound. That's this album's strength- its originality in relatively long-lived genre.<