Cenotaph of Defectuous Creation

Five years after their debut, this Portland band comes up with a follow-up. Sempiternal Dusk are a Death Metal band, but much more in the tradition of European or South American bands than the more technical US school. This album is all about crunch and riff rather than speed, and in fact this album only speeds up here and there for short bursts. Most of this is much more akin to Bolt Thrower than Immolation—in fact I would say Bolt Thrower is the primary influence here. The recording is solid, the riffs are heavy, and even the longer songs don't wear out their welcome. I was ready to dismiss this as generic, but it grew on me.