Magnus - Acceptance Of Death

Magnus has been silent for some time... over ten years in fact. They started up in the late eighties as a thrash death metal band, but over time tended to lean more towards the death metal side. After their release in 1994 there was an indefinite hiatus... until now. Magnus have returned with the same gritty and killer attitude that made this Polish band so popular for its time, and they've still got the death metal with style. Much of the music is thrash based, but with the death metal vocals in the forefront it makes the entire style feel like death metal. The gritty production also makes it feel a bilt old school, along the lines of bands like Incantation or Grave, but fortunately doesn't overshroud the music as a whole so nothing can be heard.

At first the album may tend to seem one sided as track after track focuses on riffs, growled vocals, and heavily distorted solos that feel like they are all over the place in their wild manner. It isn't until "Private Religion" that things start to take a turn in sound. The vocals have a bit more of a snarl to them and the riffs sound overall a lot more thrashy rather than just brutal death metal. "When You Rest Six Feet Under" has a bit more melody involved and "Mournful Song" even has some depressive metal overtones, but has a great balance of thrash and death metal in there. It is possibly the most balanced song on the album overall, with even flecks of grindcore involved with how fast the vocal assault is going.

Basically fans will get a half and half with this album, the first part death metal and then the thrash bits before having a nice merge between the last few tracks. It may be 2010, but listening this album makes it feel like the late nineties again as Magnus haven't lost their touch or their gall to create music from their time while refusing to jump into any current trends. Fans who have been missing this band for some time will be very pleased to know they retained the original form from the past while still incorporating modern, creative elements.

  1. False God
  2. Appear
  3. Spirits
  4. Essence
  5. Worm
  6. To Understand Death
  7. Private Religion
  8. Nothing More
  9. When You Rest Six Feet Under
  10. They'll Bury
  11. Mournful Song
  12. Just Like Life
  13. There's No Use Lamenting

Witching Hour Productions
Reviewer: Colin McNamara
Jan 8, 2011

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