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Pyre of Hypocrisy are a pretty recent Finnish outfit made up of old hands from bands like A.R.G. to more recent groups like Crystalic, Saattoväki and Clamosum. That would lead you to believe they started off very professionally, but frankly, their 2020 EP All Dying Lies suffered from awful production values and a lack of good ideas, so I wasn’t entirely sure what I’d get with their follow-up. As it turns out, Altar of Burning Chaos sees the band taking a full turn into something worthwhile.

Pyre of Hypocrisy work in old-school Death Metal somewhere between a more stripped-down Cannibal Corpse and the magnetic ferocity of Torture Killer, only here it’s much more refined, better played, and brimming with much more energy and verve than before. This doesn’t have an original bone in its body, following a very familiar formula for anyone familiar with the previously mentioned bands, but that just means it’s heavy and brutal in a comfortable way, more than capable of keeping your attention without any need for gimmicks or innovations. Nothing here will change how you see the genre, and there’s not much here I’d call killer, but it’s a safe bet for any Death Metal fan, and a step in the right direction for a band of established professionals.