KEITZER

They may not yet be Germany's answer to MISERY INDEX, but with "Descend into Heresy"KEITZER is headed down that road. Given some time for musical growth and identity formation that together rivals the ferocious death-grind attack KEITZER could be major players.

Any memory retention issues with the songwriting are however related more to the height of the bar set by acts like MISERY INDEX than a sub-standard job by KEITZER. The business of "Descend into Heresy" is dead serious and not a cut on here will have you glancing at your watch, much less yawning. Lead vocals that not surprisingly remind of Jason Netherton's vicious bark coupled with less frequent growls go hand in hand with furious grind-level speed and atrocity, not to mention some shrapnel-storm riffing. Though the growl of the bass is pleasingly prominent and the drum sound suitably dry/natural, some flatness in the mix tends to soften some of the blows, at least until you settle into the groove after a couple of cuts. The only issue of note, as alluded to above, is songwriting that suffers to a moderate degree from the one-pace/one-feel syndrome, although the band does pace-shift and breakdown from time to time, most notably (and effectively at that) on "Rock 'n' Roll Damnation" and "Last Days". A downright wicked groove during "Wrath", as well as shades of NILE and BEHEMOTH riffing (more tone, than complexity) on "Gifts of Doom" and "Circles" are done well and hint at future diversification.

None of the above should be considered an outright indictment of the songwriting, but merely the identification of a few issues that shouldn't take a great deal of effort to rectify on the next release. Otherwise, most fans of death/grind will find "Descend into Heresy" to be an incendiary effort that'll rattle fillings from teeth. The intensity level on this sucker is beyond question. Once KEITZER realizes its full potential, watch out!