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Daggerspawn are a Serbian band ripping out some old-school Death Metal. They have been knocking around for a few years now, churning out the sort of singles, demos and splits you'd expect from a young band, and here we finally get their debut album. It's a pretty short album at only about 35 minutes of real meat, plus three live cuts to pad it out, but in the realms of Death Metal that is fairly standard.

This band is not breaking any molds, as their sound is pretty much a hybridization of the speed of old Morbid Angel and the sludgy melody of classic Bolt Thrower. Sure, it's not original, but I like it. Daggerspawn go after it with a lot of energy, wringing out twisted, evil riffs leavened with melodic hooks and chaotic leadwork. They are not techy or precise, going after a feral assault more than the clickety sterility of some ‘broootal' bands. Speaking of clickety, there is not any of that here, as the production is actually pretty damned good. They have a nice fat guitar sound and drums that sound like drums, and while you can hear everything, it's still dirty enough to be cool.

There is some wastage here, as the first and fourth tracks are both atmospheric interludes without much point. But with slabs of Death Metal killing like "Children Of The Livid Sea" and "I Am The Thousand Plagues" I am prepared to forgive quite a bit of that. Daggerspawn are just getting started, and a debut album this enjoyable says good things about their future potential. This is an underground gem for all Death Metal fans to check out, as this is a band worth watching for.