Here’s something you don’t hear everyday, an Italian Metal band playing aggressive and harsh music. If I were to say to you, “Kiss Of Death are based out of Italy”, I guarantee that most of you would assume they’re some form of Symphonic Power Metal. Thankfully, Kiss Of Death breaks that stereotype (real or imagined) and delivers a three-song promo CD (meant to get a deal with a major label) that is mix of Thrash Metal, Melodic Death, and Hardcore. Now, you might think to yourself, doesn’t Shadow’s Fall do that too? I suppose you could state that yes, Shadow’s Fall has those elements, but the overall sound of Kiss Of Death is totally different and you can’t really compare them to Shadow’s Fall or even Darkest Hour for that matter.

Despite being an independent release the production is excellent. The mix is nice and loud, not muted at all, and the guitars have a solid crunch, the drums sound real, and the bass almost has an Overkill vibe to it. I don’t think a major label could do much of a better job in this department. From my understanding, one song, House Of Pain is new, and two others are taken from their last CD that was a self-released full-length called Stronger Than Before. The two tracks from that CD are Uncontrolled Reaction and the title track, Stronger Than Before, both of which were re-done for this CD or so I gathered from their bio (it’s in broken English). It’s hard to pick out a favorite from the three because they are all quite good. All three songs contain the same elements so I’ll discuss them as a whole. The pace of the songs is very Thrash/hardcore like. In other words, the music is fast, but also has a slight groove at times, and the riffs change on a semi-regular basis. In between the Thrash/hardcore riffs are traditional melodic leads that would not sound out-of-place in most Melodic Death bands. The result is perhaps not the most unique thing that could happen in Metal, but the melodic parts fit very well in the overall scheme of the music and give the songs dynamics that works in the bands favor to be sure; not too many bands have sections in songs that you can hum along too because of the catchy melodies, and also have sections that crush your skull with double bass and Overkill styled Thrash riffs. The “core” elements mostly come in the form of the song arrangements, some riffs, and the vocals. The vocals are, for lack of a better word, screamed. The phrasing is adequate and it sounds good for what it is, but I’m not a huge fan of this style and therefore feel a different style (I’m not really sure what) might sound better with the music. However, just because I don’t really like them, doesn’t mean you won’t like them too. The vocals don’t kill the music though, and I got used to them with the 4th listen. As the band continues to mature, the vocals might end up fitting very well, or they might prevent the band from getting a good deal, that remains to be seen.

Kiss Of Death definitely have the musical and song writing talent to belong on a major Metal label.I enjoyed all three songs, even though I could have done without the “core” elements; that’s just a matter of personal preference however (and they don't show up that often). The songs were very intense, full of energy (a big plus for new bands), well produced, and had some great head banging moments. I can picture Kiss Of Death being a solid live act with a huge Thrash pit at their shows. As mentioned, the only low points were the vocals in conjunction with the music and the “core” elements, but despite this I hope that Kiss Of Death finds a label because they definitely deserve it.