Stigma is a band that I have not heard much about, most likely because they have until recently been an underground deathcore group. This is the Italian band's first release with the label Pivotal Rockordings, their previous work being self-produced. I can honestly say I was expecting a somewhat bland and unoriginal piece of deathcore when I got this, but I was very surprised and, I'll admit, kind of wrong. This album tears shit up, and not only has some fun but kicks your ass while doing it.

The intro track, Walpurgis Night, is pretty weird but in a good way with its atmospheric noises that sound like something right out of a certain Bram Stoker story. This is a perfect lead into I Am Dracula, a track that blasts out of the speakers and declares the power of this band. The vocal talents of Stefano 'Vlad' Ghersi are excellent on this first track; this guy actually knows what he's doing in the death metal department, and he's not here to take any prisoners. The music is also catchy, with tight guitar work and heavy double-bass drumming. The next track, Silver Bullets And Burning Crosses, is another great song. It's very heavy and melodic, although the vocals on this track are far from perfect. I feel that Ghersi sometimes goes a little overboard with the screaming to the point that it doesn't even sound like he’s forming words anymore. That’s just fine on a grindcore inspired album, which this clearly is to some extent judging simply by songs titles like Blood, Your Precious Blood! and Flesh Ritual. However, I think the band needs to firmly decide which direction they're going in and then create music accordingly. That being said the vocalist clearly has a brutal voice that is capable of doing everything it needs to do. These guys also know how to write decent songs, some of the tempo changes are done expertly as in To Be Really Dead... and A Call For Vengeance. Admittedly some of these songs fall into the realm of cliché, but fortunately it goes more on the horror-inspired side than the more alternative, emotional side. The intro to Walking The Fields Of The Apocalypse is also bit strange and just unnecessary in my opinion and the song continues quite blandly from there. The guitar riffs all sound similar to previous songs so I was a bit confused by this track.

I have not heard any of Stigma’s previous work and after hearing this album, I'm not sure I want to. I think that if the band keeps up this kind of pace and refines their sound a bit more, they could actually give this genre a good name in the more conservative extreme metal community. However, I think if they keep going in this direction, they could quite possibly stop being referred to as a deathcore band. While those modern death metal elements are still very present in the music, the band is definitely moving more towards becoming death metal. Almost nowhere on this album does the band resort to living in breakdown land and it keeps the album moving nicely without the need for any cheesy crap. I think the track Sons Of Midnight proves this beyond a shadow of a doubt. This song is obviously heavily influenced by early grindcore bands such as Carcass, Brutal Truth, etc, and embodies both violence and a melodic sound that is simply a joy to listen to. I can only hope these guys keep up the good work and improve upon what they have accomplished here.