Review Summary: 33.5 minutes of pure swedish technical death metal and everything that comes with it. Complex rythms, deep growls, howling highs, BRUTALITY. It's all there.
I first came across Volturyon when I was ironically attending a Godhate concert and Volturyon played aswell. I was blown away. So I bought their debut record instantly.
After a brief intro that sounds like something from a fantasy movie, the listener gets thrown straight into "Naked Blood". Hammering blast beats, a stunning vocal performance (the best on the album) and those typical tech-death guitars. This goes on for another 33.5 minutes, quite a short album. Which is a good thing concidering this is tech-death and everyone who has listened to this kind of metal knows it just gets too much after a while.
The lyrical content of this album really does it's part to the whole brutal thingy this album has going.
"Genitalia removed to be consumed
Agony and euphoria blend together
as the lump slides down my throat
Snacking on my own bloody chunks
Severed dick fellatio".
Combined with the, what can't be described as anything short of pure brutality, of the vocals this must be seen as the highlight of the album. Well done Olle Ekman. Even though "In Mourning" drummer Christian Netzell does his best to overshine it, beating on that snare drum and ride like there's no tomorrow. The guitars are really just the ordinary for the genre, some fast tremolopicking, brutal headbang friendly riffs and even a occational solo. There are some breakdowns here and there. Actually contributing to the songs, they're not just filler breakdowns.
The production is great no doubt about that even though it's somewhat plastic from time to time. Everything is loud and clear and thankfully the drums sounds great. My overall problem with newer death records is how the drums sound. There is never any power in the basedrum and the snare is all over the place. But thank god that's not the case here.
My main issue with this album though and what's keeping it from getting a even higher rating is that it can get a bit repedative from time to time. It doesn't matter that they throw in a breakdown and plays new and complex rythms from time to time. The songs are still hard to separate.
Although not really bringing anything new to the genre. The amount of brutality, the production, the songwriting and how it's executed (hehe) really makes it one of the best in the genre.
