Warmarch - The Declaration (2007)

Featuring the guitarist of Rites of Thy Degringolade, Warmarch continue in much the same vein, with a slightly more progressive touch. The production is cleaner, the songs are more adventurous, and "The Lake" features one of my favourite riffs of recent history. None of the visciousness and uncompromising brutality has been sacrificed in this equation, though in this case the attack comes more in the form of sardonic, twisted riffs than outright blastbeats, and the result is very satisifying. Personally I enjoyed this more than Begrime Exemious' recent debut, and it certainly contains that same otherworldly atmosphere. I'm sure most of you have heard Mitochondrion (rectify that as quickly as humanly possible if you haven't) and I see a lot of the same creative spark in these guys. Unfortunately, Canadian War Metal bands seem to have an incredibly short half-life, and this band split up shortly after releasing this album. Here's hoping the minds behind this album and Rites... will form another band post haste (someone slap me if this has already happened).

For now, enjoy:
Rapidshit (ask for an alternate site and I'll try to upload it there)