Sanctification-Black Reign

Pulverised

2009

Swedish death metal outfit Sanctification formed back in 2001 and gone through numerous line-up changes between then and now. There are former and current members that have been in AEON, In Battle and Dark Funeral. "Black Reign" is relentless onslaught of old style death metal similar to Morbid Angel, Hate Eternal and others. The production helps greatly because despite being fairly basic they hit with an unrelenting force. The rhythm section is insane as they just stay on top and right in there for the duration. That's something that doesn't happen enough in this style as we often hear rhythm sections who get swallowed by the guitars and vocals. Not the case here though. I hear the attempt at melodies and that helps add some needed depth to the sound. However there were times where the songs blended together due to a lack of changing the pace or approach. Santicification certainly don't lack in power or intensity, but they fall into the trap of droning on and not all of the songs have as much personality as I would have liked. Still they do enough to partially melt my ears off so that's always a plus.