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Both Egypt and Cairo aren't places that you associate with extreme Metal so much, right? Well, now you should because one of Egypt's best-kept secrets, which isn't so new, has been recently found, like unknown series of ancient pyramids being buried under the heavy masses of sand for thousands of years. Welcome to the world of Egyptian extremists, Crescent.

This Black and Death Metal-driven quintet has been around since the year 1999 and self-released their debut album, Pyramid Slaves, in 2014 both digitally and as a limited digipak version. They have a new album out titled The Order of Amenti, which truly impressed the hell out of me.

First off, it's not often that one gets to hear professionally done, very well thought-out and just thoroughly enjoyable extreme Metal that is just more than just an endless blast beat marathon, extremely fast rumbling without any substance, and all kinds of cliché-infested lyrics that could have come from the pen of a 7-year-old. Crescent have brought their brand of Death Metal to a whole new level, cherishing their own ancestors in a genuine way, concept-wise. Due to the band's strong connection to ancient Egyptian history, they often get compared to bands like Nile and Melechesh. However, to Crescent's own credit, coming from Egypt, they are somehow far more convincing in this musical and lyrical theme. The band's music reminds me of a cross between Immolation, Melechesh and Nile. These lads' mix of Black and Death Metal is extremely well-crafted, full of exciting and overwhelming elements that will make you return to this brilliant opus over and over again. Dark, moody, extreme, haunting, mesmerizing, captivating and so on - all those adjectives could be directed to describe the content of this album. Believe me, there are many "wow factors" on this release that are meant to drop your jaw to the floor every time you listen to it.

The year 2018 could not be kicked off in any better way as far as new Death Metal releases are concerned. Get this, not tomorrow but preferably today.