Reflection (CD - 2009)

As You Drown: Henrik Blomquist (vocals); Mikail Akerstrom (guitar); Simon Exner (guitars); Robert Karlsson (bass guitar); Martin Latvala (drums).

Audio Mixers: Christian Silver; Simon Exner.

Swedish death metal export As You Drown used to be known as Ethereal. Based on this evidence, the only name less appropriate to their actual sound would have been "Cuddly Bunnies." These guys are a whirling ball of fury, combining the grotty guitar sound of classic acts from their homeland such as Entombed and Grave with the relentless breakdowns, complex riffing, and blast-furnace vocals of contemporary deathcore acts like Suicide Silence and Metal Blade labelmates Whitechapel. There are occasional guitar solos to leaven things with a little bit of melody, and every once in a while, a screamo-ish background vocal. And that's all fine (really, even the screamo touches work in context).

Sweden's latest death metal export, As You Drown, used to be known as Ethereal. Based on this evidence, the only name less appropriate to their actual sound would have been "Cuddly Bunnies" or something like that. These guys are a whirling ball of fury, combining the grotty guitar sound of classic acts from their homeland like Entombed and Grave with the relentless breakdowns, complex riffing, and blast-furnace vocals of contemporary deathcore acts like Suicide Silence and Metal Blade labelmates Whitechapel. There are occasional guitar solos to leaven things with a little bit of melody, and every once in a while, a screamo-ish background vocal. And that's all fine (really, even the screamo touches work in context). The trouble is, it's really hard to pick As You Drown out of a crowd. The creepy two-minute instrumental that bridges the space between the first five songs and the last three only serves to allow the listener time to wonder whether letting the disc play out will be worth it. Answer: if it's background music, sure. If these guys are hoping to hold people's attention as serious contenders, they're gonna need to develop an original idea or two in a hurry. ~ Phil Freeman minimize