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Finnish heavyweights Concrete Icon have been stomping on spines for well over a decade now, so it makes sense that they'd want to remix and remaster their old material, specifically their 2012 EP Where the Horns Reign and their 2013 full-length debut Perennial Anguish. Musically, they've always been about crushing mid-paced marches that fall somewhere between God Forsaken's grooving old-school death/doom and Cartilage's eerie gloominess with Bolt Thrower heaviness on top, and this is more of that but with the added benefit of a professional production job that gives them the fidelity and heaviness needed. Much like later material, there's nothing fancy or refined going on here, just heavy, hateful skull bashing done like all death metal should be. Despite a crummy album cover with poor Photoshop and an uncanny resemblance to The Jester Race (still beats the original covers), Reign of Anguish MMXXII is a fitting update of previous material that lets it shine as it smashes your skull, and with an upcoming third full-length in the works (the band should be in the studio sometime this fall), there's no better place for newcomers to start than here.