After a long hiatus of six years ADRAMELECH return to the public again and I am glad they did so, as they are one of the few bands still around that have their roots in the classic way of Finnish Death Metal consisting of pure, brutal chords and underlying harmonies in minor keys. The year 2005 sees ADRAMELECH fronted by a new vocalist, Marko Sivennoinen, who sounds more or less similar to Ali Leiniö on the predecessor "Pure Blood Doom" with the exception that he shouts slightly higher, sounding a bit thrashy. The production has been once again done by Mika Haapasalo (of DEMIGOD fame). I must say that this time it took quite some time for me to get into the sound of this album. All details can be heard but I couldn’t help to feel that the whole result is a bit thin – especially the guitars. According to the info sheet the guitar tracks had to be re-recorded three times due to unfortunate circumstances… anyway, as I said above this is something you have to get accustomed to – turning up the volume should do the job. The most striking thing about "Terror Of A Thousand Faces" at the first listening session is that it is notably faster and straighter than "Pure Blood Doom" which had quite an amount of midtempo passages and doomy moments that reminded me of BOLT THROWER at times. This time, the Finnish trio doesn’t slow down until the sixth track ‘I Don’t Care About Your Murder’ with its dark harmonies and picking, also track number eight, ‘Book Of Flesh’ fits into that category. Midtempo passages are still present but the overall tempo is faster. Along with that goes the riffing which is a bit less intricate than it used to be. Perhaps the frustrating experiences during the recording found their way into the composition and execution of the songs. I read some reviews in which this record has been compared to MORBID ANGEL but I have to disagree here – there are more blast beats and a slightly straighter riffing approach but ADRAMELECH maintained their very own character. The way the riffs are executed / shredded (especially in the opener ‘Halls Of Human Tragedy’) may mislead to a Florida – influence but the scales and harmonies prove the opposite. Some bits even recall moments from their "The Fall" demo / MCD which is one of my favourite pieces of Finnish Death Metal. The only real letdown in my opinion is the duration – 29 minutes after six years of absence… but anyway… You can check out an mp3 on the Xtreem Records page: www.xtreemmusic.com, band contact is possible via mail@severemusic.com and a (quite outdated) page is to be found at: www.adramelech.net. Fans of REAL Finnish / Scandinavian Death Metal should risk an ear… the album needs a bit of time to sink in due to the factors mentioned above but it is definitely worth it!