Oh man, it took the band ages to come up with their highly anticipated third output. I almost thought I would never be able to hold this piece of great Metal art in my hands. Almost seven years have passed by since the New Zealand Death / Thrash force unleashed their last album "Carved And Created" upon the headbanging masses. The band had to face some unexpected circumstances e.g. the devastating earthquakes who hit the horde’s hometome Christchurch quite severe. But the band rose from the ashes, stood up and fought and mastered everything. And believe me their new opus was absolutely worth the wait. I guess some big names in the scene will look quite envious down to TAINTED’s headquarters on the other side of the globe. "Into Temptation" is a killer album which others would die for to be able to create such musical greatness. The disc, which features twelve tracks (incl. two instrumentals), provides excellent and first class songwriting by technical high accomplished musicians. The four lads are veterans in the scene and their career is spanning more than eleven years now. And you can hear this experience with every single note. You get massive and crushing riffs galore. Despite a lethal dose of aggression and neccessary brutality the five piece never neglects the melodical aspect of their tunes. All sounds fresh, natural and of a piece. Apart from the brillant guitar work the drumming also needs to be mentioned. With a certain complexity and great fills the man behind the drum kit pushes the tracks always unstoppable forward. I also enojoy the vocals a lot. A cool balance between aggression and virtuosity. The production of the album is really top notch. The main credits for this incredible sound goes to Clint Murphy who gave the album the right shape. To sum it up: all fans of high quality Death / Thrash Metal with a sense for melody should check this masterpiece out. Just have a listen to monster tracks like ‘Bleed For Me’ or ‘Within The Crucible’ and decide for yourself. I guess you won’t regret it. TAINTED are on par with the big names of the scene and in my humble opinion they are even a little bit better because they sound fresher. Support this great band which put a lot of sweat and commitment into their beloved music. For more info go to www.facebook.com/taintednz