There's a lot of very good death metal around the scene these days, so much so that truly trying to keep track of it all is more than any one metalhead can possibly do. Some bands stand out from the crowd, however, not least these Finns who formed last year and here present their debut full-length. Of course, calling a twenty-seven minute album a full-length record will raise some eyebrows, yet what convinces is the strength of Grave Hex's music, a caveman-like battery of sludgy riffs and crashing drums topped by a triple-vocal attack of echoing retches and growls that more than fit the murky atmosphere of the music.

After Steeping Master Worm Flesh, which acts as something of an introductory piece with its ramping tension, the more rocking gallop of Vultural Scourge soon shows off their style well with the post-Entombed deliciousness of that guitar tone and that bass tone. The latter has to be appreciated as it seems as much doom as death metal influenced, usually doing something distinct from the guitars and always nicely audible thanks to a production job handled jointly by the band's drummer Matti Vainionpää and Autopsy bassist Greg Wilkinson. Putting a rhythm section in charge of the band's sound so thoroughly has paid off, as this sounds fantastic.

And what also pays off are the songs, flowing in and out of each other with enough variance and variety to keep the ears peeled, and plenty of moments such as the doomy melodies that form Den of Evil's outro. Describing them as 'hooks' seems a little much for a band of so rotten a sound, but it's tough to see the likes of Endless Impossible Constructs as being anything other than catchy with its almost punky energy. And although there's much death 'n' roll to keep foot tapping, the band are most interesting when they allow that atmospheric side to shine. Perhaps you have to squint a little to see it generally but it is notable that Grave Hex lean towards the 70s and even psychedelia at points such as on the title track, preferring a fuzzier aspect to the guitar tone that gives their music a darker, more menacing feel.

And it's that promise of something deeper which makes the shortness of this album so disappointing, really, because it wouldn't have taken much more to push this into true greatness instead of a mere herald of future excellence. The shortest piece present, the two and a half minute Pungent Pulsating Pools of Blood, is a hammering intense death/grind stomper, high in energy and viciousness, and then the band follow that with the longest in Halls Beneath the Primal Mere, which slows things down for a doomdeath outro that's genuinely chilling in its intensity and drive, particularly towards the midpoint when it turns into zombified blackened death metal. Both tracks are great and both leave you wanting more; either could have been the basis of a solid album of that style alone but skipping between them is either Grave Hex showing off or being unable to decide! Hopefully this is just first album syndrome and the four Finns have a truly spectacular follow-up planned - for the moment Vermian Death is an excellent, if too short, debut album that will please death metal heads and should get the band much attention.