Diabolical

Diabolical offer a different take on the death/black sound by adding a nice spice of Gothenburg melody to their onslaught, creating a sound that brings to mind Carnal Forge sooner than it does Morbid Angel. Too bad about that bad cover art, because it's going to turn away a lot of people who would probably dig this razor-sharp onslaught of brutal blasting death metal, catchy thrash riffing and smart songwriting. The clear production is a bonus, as are the realistic sounding drums and the playing time, which sees the album ending before the listener starts nodding off into the realm where we all go after one too many blast beats. So Diabolical has got an edge above a healthy chunk of today's extreme metallers, thanks to the combination of a bit of thrash, death, black and, of course, a healthy dose of Satanism.