Their BRUTAL bio calls them THE viking metal band. As with most things Nuclear Blast, there are moments here, but largely this comes off as calculated and formulaic. Riff followed by perfectly assembled verse. Acoustic segue. Etcetera. You know the drill and so do they. A long running Swedish outfit, I am sure there are moments in the back catalog that makes the well constructed but contrived “imagine this in an arena, dude!” moments of this latest product cringe and retreat into the branches of Yggdrasil where they belong. But this does not inspire me to revisit them. Enjoy if you do. It is not the worst thing ever recorded. However, it leaves me lukewarm in the face of so many more relevant claims to being “the ultimate embodiment of death metal.” Fuck the presskit. Fire the publicist. Fuck Decibel, Facebook, Blabbermouth and Lambgoat. Listen to Entombed or Dismember instead. (Nuclear Blast USA, nuclearblastusa.com) Brad Skibinsky