In the thick of the woods lies a creature of unknown malignant repute, the vast formless cacophony of tendril and madness hinted by the likes of Lovecraft and Death Metal-herein at the wake of a vicious and unpredictable force exists the transcendence that is WRATHRONE. Of a strength ill-defined by convention the band walks the marred line between brutality and melodious destruction made self-evident via the foreboding "Eve Of Infliction."

The piece opens up with the track "As The Knife Cuts Deep" which itself opens up containing a solo that segues unto a callous verse progression shifting sharply between the different elements the band is known for. "Heartless Absolute" begins with a drawn out progression met in reciprocation by a relentless fill provided by the other guitar as the band slowly becomes more and more intense-the fervor comes to an apex just before the vocals join in for the first verse. The titled track, at least by partial name alone, "Infliction," carries with it a weight grand in association and boundless in form as it immediately crafts for itself a soundscape and tone separate from the rest of the tracks upon the album; here lies the darkest depths of depravity and most sinister of insidious vexing such that the listener comes unto the full form of the band and its greatest strengths defined within a single song. The jarring and disharmonic leads interwoven unto one another, the malignant synth layering the track in a dismal atmosphere, the drums forcing transitions onto sections you wouldn't expect, and the vocal delivery itself becoming so dry and cruel it feels that each phoneme is directed with spite straight upon the audience. "We Feast on Fear" starts right off the back in a form more in line with Death 'n' Roll though does find ways to transition in and out of different severities of ruthless progressions.

The layering and merging of instruments is something akin to an Arcanum in relation to the genre of Death Metal as few engineers are capable of crafting something brutal and raw yet wherein each instrument is still contained within its own sanction, and as it happens WRATHRONE is one of the few bands to break that mold. Not only is every string and percussion evenly distributed unto its own soundscape but they achieve a cohesive loudness only granted to those few that can be thrown unto absolute unity, even the guitars are easily distinguished from one another between both channels.

The album as a whole is a great collection of inspiring tracks which should serve to propel the band unto even greater works; Eve Of Infliction does come off feeling a few tracks short of a full album but what we do have is something quite astounding and is one of my favorite sounding albums in the genre as a whole.