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Naumachia are a Polish band who play that 'Melodic Death/Black Something' that's becoming kind of popular over the last few years. This is their debut, and while it isn't going to set the world on fire, it is pretty cool. This is melodic music somewhere between Stormlord, Children Of Bodom, and Dimmu Borgir. The keys are present, but not a lead instrument, the guitars are heavy but not as heavy as I would like, and the vocals are a kind of indiscriminate rasp. I like a lot of the melodies on this disc, and "Vorpal" and the title cut stand out as genuinely well-written songs. Quite a bit of this disc is rather faceless, and tends to blur together. Naumachia are actually better when they slow down and concentrate on melody, as when they speed up they sound more generic. The lyrics, probably due to a language barrier, are almost totally incoherent, which may be a mercy, as there seems to be some of the dreaded 'social consciousness' in these. Ugh. I also have to call attention to the very end of the album, where for the last bit of the title track they break into the main riff from Survivor's "Eye Of The Tiger" – what the fuck is that about?

So if you dig Stormlord and Norther and are looking for new bands to check out, check out Naumachia. This album is good but not great, but these guys show a lot of promise, and there might be greatness in store.