The Suomi death squad thrashers DET have unleashed upon this realm a sonic assault in the form of their first full-length album after two demos, a split and a compilation. It could easily be treated as a record released in the mid to late ’80s with its Razor’s Evil Invaders-esque, high-gain guitar tone.
In contrast to Razor, the guitars have been panned left and right to create a bigger, blacker atmosphere, which is one of my favorite aspects of this album, the whole thing is wrapped in a magical First Wave Black Metal spirit. Whether it’s the ancient riffs themselves, the highly reverberated screeches, or the malicious drums, they all contribute to making the listening experience feel like a trip to an old medieval dungeon.
Listening to this album feels like playing through an episode of Quake (1996), let me explain. One is an auditory trip through ancient dungeons and realms, while the other one is physical. Anyways, I express my eternal gratitude to this band for making all of the songs bite-sized, catchy hymns; there’s not a single track that goes over the 5-minute mark.
The solos are very much first-to-third-album Bathory style: high-register, no-extra-bullshit, echoed screams from the deepest reaches (e.g. the solo for the first version of ‘The Return of Darkness and Evil’), and they do wonders for the attitude of this record.
Honestly, my only complaints about this album would be to turn up the bass, god damn it. It’s there, it noticeably adds to the lower end, but it could have been so much more; It gets lost in the mix. Other than that, I’m not sure what kind of rites they perform up there in Finland, but they seem to always do Black/Thrash Metal so fucking well.
