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Desolator caused a bit of a stir with their debut, Unearthly Monument, which was really just a compilation of some early demo songs that nonetheless got them a lot of fans awaiting their next album. Now, seven years later, they've finally resurfaced with their sophomore album, Sermon of Apathy, sporting an awesome Lovecraftian-themed album cover to complement what I'd consider to be the arrival of an innovative force in Death Metal. This is a Swedish band, but you wouldn't know it from how they sound, as Desolator exists in an odd place somewhere between Immolation, Vader, and Demigod, far from the expected second-wave Death Metal worship you usually get from that corner of the world. The music is progressive and often strange, comprising innovative and refreshing ideas that creates an audacious thunderstorm of technical, menacing Death Metal the likes of which I've never heard before. Album closer "The Great Law of the Dead" is a clear highlight, sporting one Karl Sanders on lead guitar and creating a surreal, sinister atmosphere that ends the album on a horrific note, but it's honestly difficult to name highlights on an album this good. This is a prime example of a band boldly going against genre convention and standing out as superior to their peers because of it, and it deserves a place in the collection of any fan of esoteric Death Metal. Killer shit.