Another new old school band playing classic Death Metal is MARTYRDOOM, hailing from Poland, and this marks their second album. Their debut album, “Grievous Psychosis”, was released under the Spanish record label Memento Mori and received an acceptable reception, leading them to share the stage with bands like NUNSLAUGHTER and UNDERGANG. The first thing worth noting about this second album is its cover, created by the artist Ryzard Wojtynski, and the result is incredible. How does “As Torment Prevails” sound? It sounds really good. The production is incredible, I particularly appreciate its cleanliness without losing an iota of the darkness and dirt necessary in Death Metal. The guitar sound is slightly inspired by ENTOMBED / CARNAGE, setting the general tone without being too overt. Their Death Metal is very classic, featuring slow passages (some of them almost Doom) and mid-tempo beats. On this album, they may be moving a bit away from their European sound and embracing more American influences. By the way, they have a parallel band called ABOMINATED, which released an album this year titled “Traumatic Putrefaction”, perhaps they lean more towards an ENTOMBED – oriented style (I recommend giving this album a listen). The vocals, without being completely guttural, remind me a lot of Martin van Drunen in his early days with ASPHYX and also a bit of John Tardy from OBITUARY. The tone of the songs is consistent, I don’t highlight any one above the other, and I don’t particularly like that. They’re not bad songs, but they sound very similar to me. It’s a good album, but not a “must-have”, at least for me. www.facebook.com/martyrdoomdeath, www.facebook.com/memento.mori.label