ASSEMBLE THE CHARIOTS

Slowly gestating, like some monstrous intergalactic parasite, over the last 16 years, ASSEMBLE THE CHARIOTS have taken the scenic route to their debut album. After a slew of EPs and tantalizing single releases, the Finns have finally arrived. At a time when symphonic death metal and blackened deathcore are reaching mainstream levels of popularity, the scene probably needs a few more bands to rival the ambition of LORNA SHORE and others who have convincingly taken the overblown majesty route. Equal parts pitilessly brutal and audaciously over-the-top, "Unyielding Night" leaves no stone unturned in its pursuit of the ultimate in punishing extravagance. Even better, ASSEMBLE THE CHARIOTS steadfastly avoid the recycling of established cliches, with a sharp focus on the symphonic side of things, and a truly endearing sense of cinematic wonder.

For those with a permanent hard-on for deathcore, "Unyielding Night" undoubtedly delivers, but even during the relentlessly vicious likes of "Admorean Monolith" and "Empress", a much broader vision is being explored. Older readers will definitely pick up on an occasional resemblance to the seminal works of BAL-SAGOTH, not least in the portentous voiceovers and overall, psychotic sci-fi vibe that permeates throughout. Likewise, ASSEMBLE THE CHARIOTS have plenty of classic metal bombast whistling around in their bloodstreams, and unlike many of their peers, melody is not restricted to the sweeping strings that haunt every carnivorous riff.

Instead, songs like "Keepers of the Stars" draw little more than brute force and velocity from deathcore, with the ornate, gothic violence of symphonic black metal proving to be a much more pernicious influence. On "Emancipation"'s deeply eccentric horror-show, the Finnish quintet become even more theatrical and further away from anything generic or expected. The musical motifs grow bigger and more dramatic as "Unyielding Night" builds toward its narrative climax.

The album's penultimate showdown, "Galactic Order" is the ASSEMBLE THE CHARIOTS experience in perpetually spinning, chrome miniature. A remorseless five-minute mini symphony, it is arguably the most out-and-out death metal moment here, but one that is as accessible as this kind of pummeling artistry ever really gets. The closing "Equinox" is grander still: a brooding, melo-death sprawl with crestfallen hooks fit to scratch the paintwork on a land-speeder. It puts the seal on an opening statement that more than justifies the circuitous route the band took to getting it done. This is spectacular: Imagine what else they can do.