The Conjuration of Vengeance (CD - 2007)

Additional personnel: Judah Moses Nero (vocals); Ryan Gaines (piano, keyboards).

The debut album by Sons of Azrael, 2007's The Conjuration of Vengeance, is one of those releases that wastes no time starting at 100 mph. In other words, there's little warning that you're soon to be bopped over the head by an absolutely vicious extreme metal assault. Hailing from the cold confines of Buffalo, NY, perhaps the lads play so fast and furiously to keep warm. Whatever the reason, Sons of Azrael keep up a relentless and breakneck pace from beginning to end. Larynx-shredding screaming, surgically precise riffing, and metronome-approved drumming all add up on this release, as evidenced by such downright dastardly ditties as the album-opening "Trail of Flesh," "Turn That Crown Upside Down," and a song whose title absolutely screams "death metal" -- "Scent of a Dead Whore." Certainly not "sing around the campfire" fare -- unless you've entered the deepest, darkest bowels of hell. ~ Greg Prato minimize