This is a tense, high-velocity black/death metal album from a fairly proficient band. Background synths compliment a speed-picking ferocity, and the music is under-produced just enough to inebriate the listener with that anesthetic quality so many have come to love in black metal. The vocals are rather monotonous, diffusing between a flat growl to a more spoken version of the same. The riffs are generally brutal with some brief melodic breaks. Songs like "Awaiting", "Geisterfalle", and the more slowly-paced "Hypertemple" are enjoyable the first few times one listens, but rapidly recede from memory a few minutes after you turn off the CD player. The final track "Lucifer, Crowned, Avenger and Conqueror" has a sparkling acousti-synth introduction part, then rages into what is certainly the most tour-de-force Adversam anthem offered here. The sound levels are fairly even here, you can hear the bass, vocals, drums, synth, and guitar acutely, but in all I thought this factor contributed to the general flat tone of the album. This is one of those groups that has its defining influences (in this case early death metal and Norwegian black metal) but doesn't sound similar to any one. There is not much to compare it with, perhaps an album-length version of Morbid Angel's "Chapel of Ghouls", and if you'd fancy that then I can imagine you might find this an enjoyable listen. This is a worthy attempt, but mediocre in the grand scheme of things.

© 2000 pizarro