Yyrkoon

Teeny bit of a buzz building around France’s Yyrkoon in the death metal underground, and for good reason. This follow-up to 2004’s Occult Medicine continues along the same path, that being brutal death metal. But they’ve slowed down things a bit here and there, allowing the impressive playing to shine through. With an added emphasis on melody (not much, don’t sweat it) and song (kind of), there’s even a small amount of groove (only small), and it all works well. The band have created an album that is both more enjoyable to listen to as well as more technically adept than before. Except for the totally useless album intro, and the fatigue that begins to wear one down about two-thirds of the way through this disc, Yyrkoon (love that name) have crafted a solid, enjoyable if not slightly boring death metal album. Some interesting drum work and a non-stop onslaught of cool death metal riffs make Unhealthy Opera one that’s set to make some waves in the death metal underground.