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An interesting album here from Canadian four piece Weapon, a blissful but also blistering execution of polished extremity. I say that, but their sophomore effort From The Devil's Tomb isn't particularly well produced; sure, it's no Angel Corpse, but then it's no Dimmu Borgir, neither. The band plays tight and visceral Black Metal with Death Metal howls and thrash-tastic riffing, bringing to mind the first Morbid Angel album in places, later In Battle during others. There is a lot of menace in the riffs, and tracks like "The Inner Wolf" will rip your face clean off. But there are soft moments, too, where acoustic guitars and soothing keys take the band back into Black Metal country. It's a mixed bag, to be sure, but there is good stuff here, in the songwriting especially. Most of these tracks are long and protracted, but Weapon keep things worthwhile with a plethora of ideas that shake the generic forms back and forth, like some kind of extreme metal martini.

Due to the mixing of styles, the production sits somewhere between the primal urges of second wave Black Metal and early nineties Death Metal, with a caustic guitar tone cutting throughout, and some percussion that is hammered via biscuit tins, presumably. A band with a lot to offer, it seems. Keep your eyes peeled for album number three.