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You know, there's an absolute fuck load of bands out their called Dies Irae (which is Latin for 'Day of Wrath'). Seriously, go and type it in to the Metal Archives search box and see for yourself. So, if you are the Polish Dies Irae, and you want to outshine all the other Dies Iraes in the world, how exactly would you go about it? Perhaps by being a side project of Vader, whilst enlisting the help of Sceptic/ex-Decapitated member? Yeah, that'd probably do it for you! This album in particular also marks one of the final releases to capture the fantastic drumming abilities of ex-Vader sticksman Doc, who sadly passed on in 2005, making it an extra special release for me as I was always a big fan of his style.

Being the band's third full length release, they'd certainly turned this side project into a nasty, hardened bitch of a band which churn some absolutely killer death metal out in a fashion not that dissimilar to an unholy amalgamation of the members' side projects (unsurprisingly). There's something re-assuringly Polish about this release too, with a thick impenetrable sound, chuggy staccato riffage, tight typewriter drumwork and enough variation not only to keep your attention, but to actually get your heart working a bit harder on getting that damn adrenal gland's emanations into your system just that little bit quicker. There's some killer Vader-esque thrashing blasters served up midway through the album ('Trapped in the Emptiness' in particular helps to remove those stubborn layers of skin most bands leave safely on your face), which although are so similar to Vader at times it borders on plagiarism, it's easily forgivable once you remember who's behind the instruments. There's nothing wrong with more Vader, no matter what source it comes from in my opinion.

That said, there is something intangible which sets it apart and makes the band its own entity. Maybe it's the fact that there's a little more experimentation here and there with arrangements or time signatures, it's hard to say, but it's certainly something. But, it's safe to say if you're a fan of Vader or Decapitated this is pretty much a no-brainer for your collection, along with both their other albums. Go seek.