I had never heard of this Norwegian band before so I checked out a couple tracks on their MySpace and really liked what I heard; it had a definite 90's style crunch to it and a doom inspired atmosphere which I really liked. I was very happy that the rest of the album continues this excellent heavy sound. The album cover is a bit trippy, but also somewhat creepy as well and the album title and song titles give me the impression of perhaps blackened death or horror-inspired metal. There are certainly some horror elements in the lyrics as in much doom and death metal. The music is really what counts though and it packs a heavy punch.

The opening track, Ingesting Death, starts out with heavy drums and fuzzy, mid-paced riffs that somewhat remind me of Cathedral. Vocalist Sindre Solem's voice somewhat reminds me of Obituary frontman John Tardy, and the slow chugging riffs also remind me of that old school, early 90's death metal sound. Catacombs Of Horror sounds more doom oriented and creates that dark, creepy atmosphere, but it's also groovy and catchy. It can get a bit monotonous though; I think a guitar solo or some sort of bridge would have helped break the song up a bit. Exterminate starts out with some mid-paced riffing, but the guitars go into a bit of a breakdown towards the middle of the track, chugging slowly to the growls of Solem. Then the quick riffs blast back in, picking up the pace and keeping the song interesting. This is music that demands to be listened to on high volume. Everyone in the band goes all-out on this track, drums, bass, guitar, everything is going a mile a minute in much of the second half of the song. Styxerian Path also incorporates more of this fast, all-out playing style, opening with quick bass and drum work that leads into mid-paced riffs which take over for a bit before speeding the tempo up once again as the Solem's vocals growl in. This is a great song with some good variation, especially with the guitars and the deeper vocals towards the end. The production on this album is the not the kind of crystal clear stuff you hear a lot these days, but rather has that fuzzy quality that to me just makes the sound that much fuller and crunchier, something I personally enjoy in this type of slower, doomier death metal. There are a couple longer tracks on the album that promote this doom feeling even more, though they unfortunately tend to get old after a few minutes or so, there just isn't enough variety most of the time to keep me interested. The final track, The Worm The Gnaws In The Night, does throw in some faster passages to break it up, which works quite nicely, though I still think this track could've been a bit shorter. There's some moaning towards the end that doesn't really do anything for me, but at least they are trying to get some more variety in there.

If you like older death metal bands such as Obituary or Entombed, this is definitely for you. Obliteration have a great sound that, while not the most unique out there, definitely has something to offer to those looking for this doomy, mid-paced style of death metal. Sometimes I felt the songs got a bit lengthy, especially when the same riffs were repeated over and over without much variation (the album is only seven tracks and over 40 minutes long). However, I have a feeling that those looking for slower, chugging death metal will not be disappointed and hopefully as pleasantly surprised as I was by this young band. I look forward to their next release.