Based merely upon the cover art for this, the second full-length from San Diego-based deathsters Conjureth, you'd be forgiven for thinking that you were about to listen to something esoteric and atmospheric, with plenty of blackened influence. Those waterfall-shrouded temple ruins look suitably murky and mysterious, after all, with that eerie blue light and cryptic mist hiding dark secrets... Yet pressing play for the first time will simply rip your ears off as the band unload riff after riff into your ears, with nary a break! The Parasitic Chambers is something like early Deicide playing heavy, frantic thrash metal, gleefully chaotic and close to overwhelming. It's far from blunt or basic; there's a hefty dose of classic Morbid Angel in those twisted melodies, and a dark intelligence has put these songs (if they can be called that) together in a way that's not a million miles away from the Demilich style. Moments even approach a very strange sort of prog, although it's hard to notice when things are moving with this much energy.

That will be the main obstacle to inexperienced listeners, who will probably wish that Conjureth would slow down and declutter a little. In fairness to them, it can take a few listens to really get to grips with Conjureth's style here, which is gloriously listener unfriendly without being unfairly so - the production is fine, for instance, not perfectly clear or totally murky. The band have the tech death inclination towards musicianship over songwriting, so it can be hard to distinguish between songs on early listens, and they will stop and start more or less randomly. Yet each of the ten songs here manages to keep your ears peeled firmly back, from the death-grind stomping of Dimensional Ascendancy right through Devastating Cataclysmic Unearthing and its thrashy barrelling. The sole exception to the general battling is closer The Unworshipped II which dips into sludge territory with the slower riffs and yelled vocals, and feels a little out of place. Perhaps it's an album to be endured rather than enjoyed for some, but death metal heads looking for something with that extra bite and vim will get a great deal out of this. The Parasitic Chambers is a demented, heavy listen, not to be undertaken lightly but sure to thrill those who like having their eardrums assaulted.