Although not ground-breaking by any means, this is a mighty tasty morsel of death metal. In Battle have been around for a while, but this is my first encounter with them and it's a positive one.

I'd put these guys somewhere in-between truly blasting death metal like Vader and Severe Torture and the angry, modern thrash bands such as Dew-Scented and The Haunted that stop just short of being classified as such. It's a little bit anonymous and sounds like a fair amount of other raging bands, but the chops and the songwriting are there to keep your interest. It kicks off with the malevolent title track and right away, you know these guys can do blast beats. The vocals are harsh and pissed-off but not guttural...this is where their similarity to Dew-Scented, Carnal Forge, etc comes in. This is not primitive or oldschool stuff, but they also avoid excessive technicality.

The record gets better as it cruises along, losing a little in velocity but gaining in tightness and memorability. "The Dead Shall See" is an angry little belter that mixes speed well, but with "Terrorkings", we see In Battle at its best. This kicks off with those super-crunchy mid-paced stomping riffs that I love so well...a fist-clenching, chest-beating anthem of death! Last two numbers "Path of Power" and "Raven Calls" exhibit a bit of dark melody and are fairly complex.

Not every single death metal album has to shred you into tiny pieces in order to be effective. I can't think of any fan of modern death who wouldn't be able to get something out of "Kingdom of Fear".