What started off as a joke band became too fun to stop. Arsis plays a mixture of technical death metal with early thrash. You will hear galloping drums and high pitched raspy vocals. You will hear an over-the-top guitar solo on every single song. Wait! Stop what you are doing and go download the song “Forced to Rock.” I’ll wait here. So is it any surprise that they are huge fans of King Diamond? They mix that kind of old school thrash with the death metal of today. Throw in some high production value and you have what could be metal album of the year. It is always a plus when something is extreme and fun, and that is exactly what this album is. (Nuclear Blast, www.nuclearblastusa.com) Paul Nordin