WITH BLOOD COMES CLEANSING

I guess it is Christian metal week here at Blabbermouth. The message of WITH BLOOD COMES CLEANSING's "Golgotha" is a spiritual and a positive one, but you would never know it listening to the group's bludgeoning mix of metal and hardcore. Rather than standard metalcore (however one defines it these days),WBCC's style is closer to what is played by bands like ALL SHALL PERISH without the same level of stunning technicality. One hears far more of a death metal delivery with hardcore elements, such as the occasional breakdown and gang shout injected into the mix. The clarification is intended only to separate the sound of "Golgotha" from the Swedecore style heard so often these days, as "metalcore" would not be inaccurate either.

Lots of lacerating dual guitar action, breakneck speed romps, bone-breaking percussion, violent vocals, and chugging breakdowns are found throughout "Golgotha". We'll pick a couple of examples. A slow and chugging tempo shift on "Mark Your Words" is effectively brutal before taking off briefly into high-speed territory and slowing back down for a call-and-gang-shout-response "breakdowny" section. Further exemplifying the sound is the very next track, "Fearless Before Opposition", one that features the aforementioned hardcore elements, as well as death metal guitar licks, harmonies and Michael Sasser's mix of guttural death growls and screamy vocals. Here again, Sasser's vocal blend is not unlike the kind one hears from ALL SHALL PERISH's Hernan "Eddie" Hermida, even if the latter is a bit better at it. I might add that guitarists Jeremy Sims and Scott Erickson do not bring anything new to the table, but manage to come up with a fair number of ass-kickin' riffs and scorching harmonies.

A running time of 25 minutes is actually a bonus for "Golgotha", as it allows the listener to get his fix of hardcore-laced death metal before it gets old. It is difficult to rave about "Golgotha", but easy to recommend for fans of ALL SHALL PERISH and those wanting an album of this style that is just above average. If nothing else, "Golgotha" is a tough little S.O.B.