I’m not quite sure if it really was the best decision of this German fourpiece to name their band CREMATION as there’s probably a lot more bands of the same moniker around within the international underground. But what the fuck – may the best and most steady one survive and judging these guys by their first full length album “Hate Contamination” exclusively, they definitely have good chances already. The album was recorded directly at the band’s rehearsal place, but hey – don’t expect a poor quality just because of that. The production actually turned out quite good – raw and powerful, yet clear and honest and always with a big “live” feel to it (a fact which many new bands are currently lacking in unfortunately!). CREMATION do play brutal old school Death Metal which seems to be influenced by bands, such as early DEATH, especially when it comes to the simple yet effective riffing here and there, while the vocal delivery often reminds me on older MONSTROSITY. This seven song album (+ intro) is the follow up to their “Extermination Of The Ungraceful” demo CD and features all new material exclusively (so, no re-recordings of earlier stuff or anything like that). CREMATION have played quite a lot of shows by now and therefore come across as a very matured sounding unit. For obvious reasons you won’t hear anything groundbreaking new from them, but at least they come up with a very dedicated songwriting (that never lacks the right feeling). Plus they’ve got a very cool looking packaging for this release. The CD sells for the fair price of 10 Euro (ppd.), so you shouldn’t hesitate to check it out. Band contact: Alex Stütz, Höckebergstr. 8, 84347 Pfarrkirchen, Germany, email: Tunjah@web.de or Alex.cremation@gmx.de, website: www.cremation-deathmetal.de, Label website: www.lostagony.com