Love the artwork, sharp (so was "In The Arms of Devastation" and "Prevail") with good use of line and color. Canada’s Kataklysm, one of the leaders of the death metal scene and known for the "hyperblast" style, are back with album # 11, armed with ten songs that are as devastating as ever, but with more variety and less an emphasis on sheer brutality. Still, the music is heavy as hell but not as one dimensional as the albums pre "In The Arms Of Devastation".

The album’s opening spoken message "The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows, it’s a rough place, and no matter how tough you think you are...it will always bring you to your knees and keep you there, permanently, if you let it. It ain’t about how hard you hit, it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward", sets the tone for the album. ‘A Soulless God’ follows with a quick sleek groove, melodic solo section, and a mix of a death and black metal vocal.

‘Determined (Vows Of Vengeance)’ slows the tempo down at the start but includes some nice rhythmic changes mid way kicking things up a notch. ‘Faith Made of Shrapnel’ (don’t you just love some of these titles?) includes a breakdown with two voices that sound as if they are possessed speaking in tongues. ‘Push The Venom’ (also has a promo video) is a classic death metal mid pace grinder and ‘Hail The Revenge’ crushes with rolling drums, ripping riffage, and well placed tempo changes.

If this is your bag, the new Kataklysm sees the band really fine tuning their style and sound into something pleasingly punishing.