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What do you think of when you think of underground heavy metal? Heavy, lead-iron riffing? Vocals rasped, intoned and shrieked like a goddamned demon? Leads and solos as blazing and fiery as they come? Lyrics long-winded and complex about demons, warriors and the likes? Well, that's what I think of. And that's what makes up the ingredients of Demontage's new album The Principal Extinction.

Now, this is the kind of music you don't really get often. The best way I can really describe Demontage is that they sound like a heightening and amped up version of Mercyful Fate or old Celtic Frost, with leads and riffs that remind me quite a bit of bands like The Chasm or something, with their epic tone and feel. The songs are long and epic, with rumbling bass lines and vocals that are varied between a rough, gravelly shout and sometimes a clean midrange that sounds like something that would come out of a warlike Spartan's mouth. The guitars are the real focus, though, and an interesting thing here is how little genre-restraint is in place. And nor should there be. Some of the riffs here, like on "Satan of Self" or "Accursed Saboteur" are damn near identical matches for the style of riffing perfected by Mercyful Fate on their early albums, but others, like on the punishing "The Malignant Paradigm," are clearly death metal influenced. It all comes together for a rollicking, Satanic good time at the end of the album, with nothing sounding too out of place at all.

It's this that really gives this album a feel for the true essence of the old school. If not for the loud, brash production job, I wouldn't have any trouble believing that this album was some kind of underground arcane epic from the 80s. It defies categorization and does a good job of blending together several elements of different genres into an organic, thriving beast. It all kind of blends together into a bubbling cauldron of furious energy. I have to say this isn't perfect, as it does kind of lose focus at times and could use some tightening up, songwriting-wise. A couple songs like the title track end up meandering a little too much. But the sound is a good one, and the album as a whole is easy to lose oneself in – with tracks like "Accursed Saboteur," the catchy "Satan of Self" and the winding, epic closer "A Thousand Dooms," Demontage are clearly going places.