Offending

Downer death metal from France is the order of the day here, with Offending offering up nine party anthems for the lonely. Opener "Infested by His Burden" (sigh) starts things off interestingly enough, with double bass plodding through an otherwise slow, doomy intro, promising Immolation-style moroseness and atmosphere ahead. And that's not far off, although the band don't quite reach Immolation levels of misery with their music. Instead, it's more Morbid Angel with the guitar solos (and guitar solos, and guitar solos… like, wow, there are a lot of guitar solos) and, well, pick a second-tier death metal band from '92. Offending have almost everything it takes to make it to the first tier: playing skills, a slightly different take on the genre and big production backing them up. They're just lacking in personality (three words that summed up death metal in '92) and are still struggling with writing memorable material. But ,man, they're getting close. Album number three could be a killer.