Prokopton

France's Aephanemer do a nice job bringing together harsh death growls, razor-sharp riffs and melodies that have an almost Celtic vibe on their second album, Prokopton. In spite of that last part, this music possesses a lot of bite and you won't easily overlook the fact that it is death metal. The songwriting is quite good, striking a balance between aggression and beauty, and every song is entertaining and energetically played. I could go for a tad more variety but that's a minor issue and it is surprising Aephanemer hasn't been scooped up by one of the bigger labels (unless that is by design). Prokopton is full of well-played, well-written melodic death metal so if that is your thing, do yourself a favor and give it a listen.