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Chthonian only had a self-titled demo done in 2006, even though the band was formed in 1998. True that they went on a few years' hiatus shortly after their formation, thus allowing the members to pursue individual projects ranging in style from Folk Rock to Death Metal. Late 2006, the trio made of Jens Frilund on guitar, Matias Lillmans (bass and vocals), and drummer Markus Rosenberg, entered the studio once again to finally record their debut album.

And what is happening on this debut album? Basically, about 27 minutes of headbanging/brutal Black/Death Metal. Fast and vicious music made of insane drumming, growls, tremolo picking, double basses galore, and the likes. Not really my type of metal to be honest. The good news here is that the majority of those eight compositions also include some industrial electronic sounds, often used as intros, contrasting with the sheer brutality, typical of Death Metal. Then, and this is the real good news, often the pace is calming down to a mid tempo, where more subtle and harmonious elements are introduced into their song structure. They come in different shapes: arpeggios, crushing riffs, wicked vocals, and so on. If it wasn't for those refinements, I would have found it pretty difficult to go through this release, even if it is a short one. A couple of tracks are worth mentioning on this disc: "Thirteen" and "Larvae, Nymph, Decay".

If you like relentless and brutal music, Of Beating and the Silence in Between is what you need!