Misery Index is of the school of traditional old school death metal. When you listen to this album, Suffocation, Morbid Angel, Obituary, and Deicide all leap to mind. Their style is pure speed and riff. No keyboards, no bullshit and it suits them well. Retaliate is one of the harsher discs of the last year.

Impeccably produced by Jean-Francois Dagenais (Kataklysm, Code Black), this album shows us talent in the raw. As far as debuts go, it is harder to find one as well produced as this one is. The guitar sound is absolutely shredding when Sparky Voyles solos. When he riffs, it sounds like a buzz saw coming through my speakers. Drummer Matt Byers has some amazing talent and can slug it out with the good majority of death metal drummers. His blast beats reach epic speed and precise in tone. While his bass is often lost, bassist/vocalist Jason Netherton surely is the front man. My only complaint lies in his vocals. He goes for more of the Melodeath gravely style as opposed to the death metal growl. Given the type of music they’re playing, the vocals fit fine but I could more easily see an Erik Rutan or Glenn Benton doing the vocals than Netherton.

The album is as no-frills as you can get in terms of songs. The sad fact is that most of them ran together in my head. There is little variation from track to track, and many forgettable songs. Aside from a solo here or an interesting opening riff there, this album could be one long continuous song. One of the more memorable bits is "Angst isst Der Seele Auf" sung half in English and German. It catches your attention not from the lyrical content but from the amazing intro phrase that leads into the destruction. From a technical standpoint, their music is incredible. However, from the point of a listener expecting some creativity, the album is decidedly juvenile. "Bottom Feeders" adds a new level of complexity with its interesting guitar tones at points. Netherton also seems to strain his voice just a tad lower in this track and frees himself from the Mikael Stanne comparison for a little while.

Honestly, it’s hard for me to review an album where each track sounds the same. Suffice to say that if old Morbid Angel and Napalm Death work for you, you’ll probably like it. It's not for me but it might be for you. It’s sheer uncompromising brutality and brutality can be good for a release. This band could expand upon their sound and really have something great.