I went to Tuska festival this year – just like every other year, with a few exceptions. All of a sudden, one tall guy approached and stopped me when the 2nd day was going on (it was right after DEMIGOD’s performance at Tuska if I can recall this much), handing me over this 3-track, somewhat cheap-looking promotional CD-R while at the same time starting to talk English to me with his faint Finnish accent. My first reaction to him was like "pardon me, do you possibly speak Finnish the same way like I do (admittedly I was also grinning due to knowing this fellow is from Finland; seen him quite a few times before)". He seemed to be a bit confused about me, telling that he has seen me many times at many concerts and festivals – most obviously even thinking that I am some journalist from some other country except Finland. Oh well, everyone has surely got similar experiences before, me too. Back to the real topic itself now though, which is a Finnish technical and melodic Death Metal band called CAUSE OF DEATH – with a tiny twist of Black Metal due to 2nd vocals that are sung in the Black Metal vein. This 4-piece unit actually sounds very tight and well rehearsed, judging the 3 songs that they have got on offer on this promotional release. What is a definite plus for CAUSE OF DEATH too, they don’t try to imitate strictly any other bands but seriously try to concentrate on doing their own thing, for the most part at least. A combination of two different types of vocals – death grunts and Black Metal shrieks, seems to work alright within their relatively complex, varied and even catchy Death Metal. Even quite much attention has also been paid to the production on this release, which is yet another plus for them. It’s clear, and leaves enough space for every instrument to breathe in its own entity. It’s also kinda hard to pinpoint any bands whom they could be compared to, although the main emphasis might lead them sound-wise to something that is related to both yellow and blue colours (kinda hard to guess, right?). Although CAUSE OF DEATH haven’t hit the jackpot yet by this 3-track, they are definitely on their way there. Lots of good ideas added with overall a great musicianship can lead any band to some sort of stardom (with some luck of course); CAUSE OF DEATH are hopefully also about to push that needed envelope in the near future ‘coz they do sound promising already, ready to explode for better things ahead of them. Contact: www.myspace.com/codmetal