I really don’t know why it is not until now that I get to listen to some material from Poland’s STILLBORN. "Testimonio De Bautismo" (in English, "Testimony Of Baptism") is their fifth album to date. And a really solid one I must add. I am curious as of why their albums use Spanish titles, since they sing in Polish. But that question may be interview material. Anyway, what grabbed me first was the production. Raw, gritty and totally organic. It seems these guys are set to play brutal music and they don’t really worry about polished sounds. Actually, I was surprised of how good the mix is. It adds a lot to the overall atmosphere. The instruments shine in their corresponding spots and everything blends in as it should. I dare say, this reminded me of some late 80s South American bands sound wise. Including the excellent vocal performance; a mix of mid-pitched screams and low grunts that fits their style perfectly! Onto the music now. The opener ‘Martwo Urodzony – Rozdzial Trzeci’ (‘Born Dead – Third Chapter’) pretty much sets the unrelenting pace in which the album progresses. This collection of songs spawn from Doom-ish passages to full speed ahead blast beats and a bunch of headbanging riffs. Bassist Hunger (Adam Ronij) and drummer August (Dominik Augustyn) provide an amazing and really dynamic rhythm backbone to the wild riff attack from Killer (Tomasz Zięba) who handles vocals as well. Songs such as ‘Upiór’ (‘Ghost’) and ‘Odezwa’ (‘Proclamation’) are perfect examples of what the band is capable to do. The former with its heavy BOLT THROWER – esque riffs mixed with slow passages and the later with its constant transition between frantic Thrash Metal and hyper fast Death Metal. After 4 spins to this album (and many more to come for sure) all I can say is that STILLBORN’s "Testimonio De Bautismo" is a Death / Black Metal tour de force! It’s savage, brutal, catchy and has all the elements that any extreme Metal fan is looking for in an album. I need to check their back catalog. In my humble opinion, this is one of those long lasting real underground bands that really deserves all the attention and support they can get! These guys know the tools of their trade and they use them unmercifully to crush your mind with their amazing blackened Death Metal! Really great album! Their official page is here: www.facebook.com/stillborn.pol. You can also contact their label here: www.godzovwar.com