Survivors Zero – CMXCIX
released March 23, 2010 on Piece Of Mind Music
Rating : 3 / 5
These guys just got a raw deal. The day before their debut album dropped in the Americas, they were denied work visas to play with fellow countrymen Finntroll, Moonsorrow, and Swallow The Sun on the Finnish Metal Tour. Maybe it just wasn’t meant to be. After all, Survivors Zero actually bears closer resemblance to their Swedish cousins like Amon Amarth and Arch Enemy.
This is not to say the album is poorly written, recorded, or performed; rather, Survivors Zero plays solidly composed melodic death metal with a decided anti-Christian slant. Despite the thick, grungy atmosphere throughout the album, the production by Scar Symmetry guitarist Jonas Kjellgren allows for most things to be heard. I wish this atmosphere had not spilled onto the liner notes. Honestly, the look and layout could have remained unchanged, save for lightening the lyrics. If they’re going to be included, they ought to be readable.
Much of CMXCIX is by-the-numbers, yet promising. “Embrace The Inferno” does well to initiate the blasphemous thrash, whose hooks sink even deeper on “Armageddon Cult”. “Scavengers Of Christ” is next to impress, but a midalbum slump lost me until “Bury Them Deeper”, which captured my attention with its lowly, rainy piano intro and one of the album’s best guitar solos.
CMXCIX is a good debut album for the young Finns, whose live DVD “Slaughter at Lutakko” just entered the Finnish chart at #1, plus they’re confirmed for the Tuska Open Air Metal Festival. Development is necessary for the future, but there may be enough momentum behind Survivors Zero to launch them into stardom.
FCC : 6, 8
Try 1, 2, 4, 7
01. Embrace the Inferno
02. Armageddon Cult
03. Lucifer Effect
04. Scavengers of Christ
05. Thorns of Rapture
06. Fortress of Lies
07. I Bury them Deeper
08. I Am the Gun
09. Trail of Fears
10. Reclaim My Heritage
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