Time Signature Born of the void...

Genre: death metal

Denmark is still lagging behind the rest of Scandinavia, for various reasons, when it comes to the national metal scenes, but there are a lot of quality Danish metal acts in the underground, and some of them to occasionally break out of the underground. One such act is the quite original and decidedly old school-oriented death metal band Cerekloth.

By no means newcomers to the scene, "In the Midst of Life We Are in Death" is nonetheless the band's debut album. While many death metal bands opt for brutality and technicality, Cerekloth take the path of expressiveness and heaviness. While there are a couple of uptempo passages and even some blastbeats, most of the tracks on the album are heavy, much like we hear on Bolt Thrower's "The IVth Crusade".

There are a bunch of crunchy riffs on the album, but they appear side by side with moody, often dissonant, passages and even some melodic parts. The at time almost black metal-esque harsh vocals delivered by Mr JBP perfectly suit the dark expressive brand of death metal of Cerekloth.

Heavy, creepy, and original, Cerekloth's debut album is definitely among the more important contributions to the death metal genre, reminding us that even extreme music can be expressive. Fans of old school death metal who do not mind an original twist, should check out this album.