"Rise" is the 3rd full-length album from this Danish horde that has been gathering quite a few raving reviews on the internet, so let’s spill more blood at the altar of Voices, hehe. One thing that separates DEUS OTIOSUS from many other bands is their sound that can’t be pinpointed straight away. People have been comparing them to almost every old school Death Metal band from the 90s, but personally, on "Rise", I can hear two main themes going on – mid-tempo to fast polka beats accompanied with thrashy riffs and tremolo picking that suddenly turn into chugga-chugga slamming workouts mean to crush you down or worse – start jumping. The vocals are low, rough, gruff and rather deep in the mix, they are the definite link to Death Metal together with the muddy, bass heavy production, not far removed from the sounds of IMMOLATION or NECROPHOBIC. As for the songwriting, they’ve got some really great parts like on the opener ‘Rising War’ or the insanely fast ‘Breeding Maggots’ interspersed with ripping solos, but often tend to repeat themselves into oblivion until my mind starts to wander, i.e. the riffs aren’t catchy or memorable enough, or maybe I just need another 100 listens to remember them all. In any case, "Rise" stands out as a fine Thrash Metal record in a Death Metal coating with gruff vocals and songs that need time to grow up on you, it definitely isn’t a scorcher that will kill you on a first listen, so give it a chance if you like, I personally wouldn’t really miss it in my collection. www.deus-otiosus.com, www.facebook.com/deusotiosus.dk, www.deepsend.com