The luster is a bit off the Danish Dawn of Demise debut Hate Takes Its Form, as the album is now a couple of years old. Call me simple-minded, but I openly enjoyed that album of which I shared my opinion in these pages. Since then, I have read and witnessed two opposite schools of thought on Dawn of Demise. One, of which I am a supporter, suggests that Dawn of Demise created a solid death metal album, even if within well-accepted conventions. How could you not think that when … And Blood Will Flow is gracing your speakers? The other is absolutely adamant that Dawn of Demise is nothing more than Suffocation Jr., taking advantage of the New Yorkers early popularity and mid-term hiatus.

Dawn of Demise, remaining pretty much intact lineup-wise, seemingly had the stakes set high for them to convert more listeners into fans with their full-length sophomore offering. I guess that platter remains the work in progress, as the choice now is to release a 5-track EP Lacerated, of which three songs are covers of notable death metal acts.

On the new tracks, Dawn of Demise must have felt rather cranky and cantankerous to create a bearish opener Extinction Seems Imminent. The solo and groovy speed along can’t conceal the grumpy mood. Ridden With Disgust is more bouncy and uptempo, guitars still downtuned through the floor, the closing solo bringing a pang of sadness. All in all, something which would fit on Hate Takes Its Form, but probably would not make top-tier on that album.

The cover tracks are interesting in a way that Dawn of Demise can provide a glimpse of three different death metal styles, technical brutality with Suffocation Infecting the Crypts, juicy Floridian catchiness with Obituary Turned Inside Out and melodic Gothenburg thrash with At The Gates Blinded by Fear. All of them bands which probably influenced Dawn of Demise mightily. It is very noteworthy to mention that Dawn of Demise manages to amalgamate all three styles together infusing them with their own sound. As a result, the cover portion of the EP sounds very cohesive, and all three tracks sound like one band, Dawn of Demise. Scott Jensen obviously has no trouble emulating Frank Mullen scraping the trough bottom with his voice. Both Infecting the Crypts and Turned Inside Out completely capture the proper blend between catchiness and brutality, Turned Inside Out is infused with traditional metal inspired solos, and sounding quite heavier than the original. It is rather interesting to hear how At The Gates comes off when the sound is purposefully more downtuned, riffs are ripping into flesh with bigger-sized less polished bite and drums hammer along when every kick is production magnified. And that all-so-familiar totally victorious end solo is completely intact.

As is, the jury will still be out on Dawn of Demise until the next full-length comes out, but it is good to know the band is still there, kicking, hopefully gathering their bile to spill it sometime next year.