Resurrection is a recently re-formed Floridian death metal band, catering to fans of the thrashy, straightforward, and distinctly old school style that bands such as Obituary made famous in the extreme metal world back in the early nineties. So for all of you fans of hyper-technicality from modern death metal giants Necrophagist and Cryptopsy , this band will probably not suit your tastes very well. Hyper-speed blasting, inhumanly guttural growls, and melodically infectious riffs will not be found on Reborn. Instead, more mid-paced (by death metal standards anyway) tempos, vocals that sound like a slightly less intense version of Obituary frontman John Tardy, and heavily chromatic riffs make this EP enjoyable after a few spins, but nothing really interesting enough to make listeners beg for more.

Resurrection are veterans of the Florida metal scene, having released their widely acclaimed debut, Embalmed Existence on Nuclear Blast in 1993. Due to various other side-projects, the band split in 1996. Now searching for a label to call home, the band has released a 4 song EP. Things start off with Ritual Slaughter. A rolling drum pattern to begin the song eventually gives away to a pretty cool, mid-paced headbanging section. Things also slow down from there to a doomish pace, and eventually give way to the EP’s only solo, courtesy of John Astl. Coward sees the band move at a faster pace, beginning with a very Slayer-ish riff. Double bass is found throughout and the chorus is pretty catchy from a vocal standpoint. Unholy has a nice start, but simply has too much repetition and seems to drag on much longer than 3:21. The final song, Death By Desire has what is probably the best triplet-laden riff on the whole EP, but nothing really more memorable than that.

Reborn suffers itself from a somewhat muffled production job, with the bass drum getting a very low mix. When the listener focuses in on it, there are definitely some cool patterns going on there, but it just not have enough breathing room or power that a band like this needs in their songs. Guitarist John Astl was able to get a pretty good sound dialed in with his guitar; not blazingly overdriven, yet still sharp enough to get the job done. Except for one section in Unholy, bassist Scott Patrick is barely heard at all. Overall, the songs themselves have nothing overtly wrong with them, yet have nothing that really stands out and grabs the listener. There is little in the way of intensity, largely due to an excess of slowed down song passages, and a lack of that speed that death metal fans crave for. In addition to that, a beefier production job, coupled with a bit more variety in the song structures could do some serious good for Resurrection.