I am not familiar with the two previous efforts by this Swedish outfit (“Nightspawn” and “Malformed Seed”, also to be found on Listenable), so I can’t discuss here how the band has evolved with the years passing by. Yet I can say for sure that “Christian Termination” is a massive offering!GRIEF OF EMERALD play a convincing hybrid of Black and Death Metal by mixing the best elements of both genres. While fast and furious, the music gives room for complex arrangements and rhythms, and the band maintain the unpredictability factor on a high level from the beginning to the end of this album. The final result sounds extremely fresh to my ears, and “Christian Termination” stands above the majority of weak or simply ok releases that are put on the market nowadays, because the GRIEF OF EMERALD music style is not easy to pinpoint while showing a lot of cohesiveness. In fact, the band melts catchy Black Metal the kind you can find on the SATYRICON “Nemesis Divina” album together with Death Metal elements. Then, while the shrieking vocals and the morbid keyboards layers are obvious reference to Black Metal, giving the album an overall bleak and gloomy atmosphere, the blast beats and the guitar playing on offer, together with twisted song structures, link also “Christian Termination” to the most technical and brutal side of the Death Metal genre (listen to ‘Raped By The Servant Of God’ with its MORBID ANGEL overtones for instance, and I guess you will get my point). The cover art is the only let down of an otherwise perfect album, it appears a little bit rushed and it is certainly not a strong selling point. But I recommend to you to pass over this kind of visual barrier and only consider the music, because “Christian Termination” could without doubt make your day. Forward to termination!