CD review, Jan 10. The Argent Dawn - A Blank Eternity (Rising Records UK)

Five piece The Argent Dawn having only been together since 2006 and offer a refreshing prospect in these times of dire emo-metalcore, identikit death metal widdlers and post-stoner miserablists. These guys focus on one thing; crushing. This is the kind of Death Metal grinding I like, no let up and straight to the point. Jamie Harrison tends towards the aggressive lower register demonic growl technique while the band grind around him in a tightly controlled yet frenetic fashion. There is plenty of breakdown type riffing but not in the tired metalcore vein, more a real understanding of dynamics and power. There’s also a smattering of 808 style bass drops peppered around which accentuate the slamming nature of some of the time changes, giving it a little flavour of the likes of say, Cephalic Carnage. If pushed I’d say this sounded like Cryptopsy from None So Vile era trying to play sludge! I can’t say that is accurate, but if you like the idea, you’ll like this. It’s great to see that there are British youngsters out there expanding the genre and seemingly having a good time doing it!