Implore SUBJUGATE

CENTURY MEDIA BLEAK BUT BRILLIANT CRUST-INFUSED DM FROM ITALIAN N’ERDOWELLS In eyeballing the logo and artwork gracing the cover of this quartet’s second full-length, you wouldn’t be condemned to the gallows for assuming frosty black metal was the order of the day. To the contrary, a powerful wall of crust-infused, punk-speckled, Swedish death metal subverts the imagery and assaults the ears. Guitarist/vocalist/lone original member, Gabriel Dubko was obviously reared on all of the above and, by default, the HM-2 pedal, which has resulted in him leading his charges along a dizzying (left-hand) path of majestically massive guitar riffs and emotional vocal discharge augmented by drummer Guido Montanarini’s linear, but peppy, take on the classic d-beat, thrashing two-beats and grinding blasts. The results are songs like Paradox, and Totalitarian, which, despite their bleak misery, will be difficult for anyone listening to get out of their heads.

FOR FANS OF: TRAP THEM, CONVERGE, BLACK BREATH

CONNIE GORDON