As perhaps you’d expect from a project involving Angelcorpse’s Gene Palubicki, the debut album by trio Blasphemic Cruelty is a slab of violently rumbling, satanic death metal. It evokes Of Lucifer and Lightning, for sure, as well as more recent hits by bands like Azarath, but ultimately it is less powerful than those records; the sound is not as overwhelming, and the aura not quite as horrifying. Of course, that’s not necessarily saying a whole lot, given the company. Fans of those albums certainly will enjoy this, although it won’t dominate their playlist.

Despite the half hour runtime, which is perhaps for the best given the lack of variety on display, there are some vicious death gems to be unearthed here. Like the bands mentioned above, this is at its best when the riffs take on a turbulent, contorted character, rather than a simple death metal charge. The drums rattle away like a rusty machine gun, but could do with a more powerful production. Nevertheless, they generally do a fine job of percussively arming the flailing guitar gestures. So, take Warstrike, which thrashes about like it was in a straitjacket, or Nuclear Evil, where the guitar riffing takes on a maniacal, hyperactive quality. It’s about rhythmic intensity, which Blasphemic Cruelty is more than capable of generating.

So, a decent album, but I’m not sure I would go out of my way to obtain this, especially given that the short time since its release (at the end of 2008) has seen excellent records in a similar primitive vein (Impiety, Excoriate, Witchmaster, Azarath and so on) that leave this behind. Good, unpretentious death metal, but not a standout.