It may be over in a few blinks of the eyelid, but the third album from Italian Tech-Death veterans Gory Blister kicks copious amounts of arse in that time. Musically following a surprisingly Thrashy and melodic palette, the band also seem to have gotten themselves a new vocalist in the form of Claudio Passeri, whose deep growls and twisted snarls are much more enjoyable than the previous guy’s high yelps. Pleasingly, Claudio (or Clode as the band calls him) also knows when to shut up and let the listener enjoy the superb music – plenty of vocalists seem never to shut up, but Clode never gets tiresome due to his sheer variety, going from a deranged Angela Gossow-esque croak into a deep growl often several times a minute.

Interestingly, although the music is never as heavy or consuming as, say, Origin, it does keep intensity levels high, proving that there’s a clever mind in charge of songwriting. Yes, songwriting! Gory Blister never descend into shallow technicalities, but construct actual songs out of their skills – opening blast of catchiness The Hatch Opens even has a chorus! Tracks blend into each other seamlessly, the end of one the beginning of another, and whilst the basic post-Death palette is pretty darn good, the experimental voyages like the spacey intro to instrumental emiT despalE take it several steps beyond awesome. Finding highlights is easy – the entire album is simply faultless, frequent solos and melodies giving it a Melodic Death feel at times, especially on The Slum Of The Wretched Creatures, that is soon crushed by heaviness only to arise again. There really isn’t a weak song present, although you may find yourself skipping emiT despalE as it seems more of an interlude than a track in its own right.

There are many moments that are simply beautiful, the synth-laden outro to The Slum Of The Wretched Creatures one example, the soloing on Shining Hades another but really it’s impossible to pick highlights. This is the sort of album that sucks you in partway through the first listen but takes many more before you’ve completely grasped it, and each listen is as fun as the last. Really, Gory Blister have outdone themselves here; Melodeath fans should enjoy this as much as Tech-Deathheads due to the melodic aspects and killer songwriting. This one will last a long time on the playlist; only the short length holds it back. Get the edition with the rather cool bonus remix of emiT despalE if you can.