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Bands with two great albums are a dime a dozen. Getting that third one under your belt seems to be a mountain only a handful have conquered. Unfortunately, at their true stab at glory, Deathchain have faltered into the first category. Their first two albums delivered a brand of pummeling death/thrash metal that left little doubt about who's going to raise their hand and step up when the big names are gone. It was not to be, it seems.

As is the case with most such stories, a line-up change (vocalist) has redirected the band for the worse. These Finns have now ventured into the realms of good ol' run-of-the-mill, generic death metal. Pity! With "Cult of Death" Deathchain have managed to abandon what they did earlier, brought in a straight-up growler, changed the guitar sound, added lots more clickety-click drums and perhaps their biggest crime - they don't have the leads and chops that got them on the radar in the first place. Instead we get some purposely under-produced and attempted 90's US death metal. "Attempted" is the key word here.

"Cult of Death" is unexceptional and boring. It's not nearly satisfying. It would be unforgivable if their first two albums weren't so bloody awesome. And with so many bands out there doing the exact same thing as what Deathchain are clearly pursuing now, I don't see a reason why they deserve a second chance. I genuinely hope I'm wrong, but unless there is an overwhelming amount of praise for their next album and they somehow manage to rediscover their thrashing fury, I'm not interested in this half-assed death metal clone number 7 gazillion. Maybe these guys really need to pay a visit to that exorcist they keep singing about and let all their demons out.