Detrimentum

On their second full-length, this dour pack of Brits deliver brutal death metal with workmanlike precision and an obvious love for extremity. The rare moments of experimentation flop ― the "lamenting soul" vocals, like on "Ascension" and "The Journeyman's Lament," just never work ― but the rest of the album delivers the goods in an almost uncomfortably consistent fashion. "Uncomfortably" because it's just all brutality all the time, with personality and originality sacrificed to the good gods of death. The only slight thing separating Detrimentum from most of their death metal brethren is a bit of melody here and there and some further-reaching musical ambition (this isn't Jungle Rot, but it almost is). With the long songs, oppressive nature of the music and feeling that these guys are trying to do something meaningful, it's a bit of a slog, but it's quality death metal all the same.