• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5

"One Who Points To Death" marks the return of these Canadian thrash legends, some six years after the release of "Unholier Than Thou". I'm only familiar with these thrash legends' highly-acclaimed "None Shall Defy", released almost twenty years ago, so I really can't compare with the previous album. "None Shall Defy" sounded a bit like a mix of early Slayer and Razor (who happen to be from the same hometown as Infernäl Mäjesty.) So how does this one compare? Well, for starters, it sounds nothing like "None Shall Defy". On this new album, the band cranks the Death Metal sound quite a few notches resulting in something that's almost 50-50 death and thrash. The vocals are particularly harsh, very close to Death growls, which might put off some fans of the band's first album who might not be as tolerant as I am when it comes to this style of vocals. In fact I don't find much resemblance to their vocal style of yesteryear...

Musically, the drums sound more Death Metal than they do thrash, and unfortunately have that little clickety sound often found on some DM albums – very annoying. The guitar work is more balanced between the two styles, but the end result is a bit messy at times and frankly this results in an album that doesn't leave much of a lasting impression – except maybe an impression of total chaos (not necessarily in the good sense of the term, but that's good if that's what you're looking for, I guess.) Speed and chaos seemed to be on the work order here, and that's what you get. It's dark, it's well played, but when the album is over, I can't help but think I was just listening to background music, despite the occasional attention-catching abrasive riffs. I don't like comparing too much with albums released two decades earlier, but this one pales in comparison. This album will please the Death Metal fans more than the thrash ones.

Worth noting is the very thick booklet, which includes quite a handful of demonic-style art (one for each song) plus some band pictures.