It is impressive how many bands want to be underground by doing almost no promotion whatsoever outside of their country. I have found Germany to be one of those places with a lot of Heavy Metal bands of all styles that are just a big mystery outside their homeland. KREON is one of them. Formed in 2003, the name KREON refers to Sophokles Antigone. King Kreon was a man of might who was personally screwed up by his own system of ruling. This German quintet has done a good album of brutal, yet somehow technical Death Metal. With a very heavy production, and very competent performance which is also measuring the brutality with some melody and some very wicked and twisted riffs. The main core of the band will be brutal Death Metal, in the CANNIBAL CORPSE, IMMOLATION style. Yet, by the form they compose, I would say that IMMOLATION is one of their biggest influences, although it might also be a coincidence. Some of the songs and riffs like in the song ‘Reinvent The Wheel’ sound to me like an unholy mixture of later DEICIDE and later DEATH. What becomes clear after a few turns is the fact that we are in front of an American influenced European Death Metal band. Just think of SINISTER to give you a hint. Usually brutal Death Metal goes along frognoise-like vocals. Well, here they were clever enough not to use them. Yes, they are still guttural low-growling vocals, but J. Morti, the vocalist, tries hard to pronounce every word and once in a while changes some tones to a higher mode. Every once in a while I can also sense some Swedish Death Metal sounds. And in the song ‘Rage Boundary’ I can even smell the rotten stench of AUTOPSY. What at first listen was like “another brutal technical Deathcore algebraic band” turned out to be a sure surprise. I suppose their lyrics are more dealing with more real topics than fictional carnages. For a debut album, they were clever enough to blend many sounds and come out with an enjoyable album. Purist of brutal Death might find this a bit technical, mathcore maniacs might find this a bit light, but there are enough killer riffs to enjoy it. Another band that in my mighty eye of foretelling future, must be to be taken in count. www.kreon-reich.de, www.obscuredomain.com