Descend - Through The Eyes Of The Burdened

Published December 21 2011

*=Staff's pick	Ascend To Obscurity Among The Ruins* A Sudden Sense Of Clarity The Life Delusion* A Piece Of Knowledge Absent Disambiguous Through The Eyes Of The Burdened* Mask Of Demise Descend To Oblivion

Genre	Prog./Melodic Death Metal	Nima F. Langroudi	Vocals
Tracks	9	Alex Wijkman	Guitar
Running time	43 Min.	Andreas Lindström	Guitar
Label	Supernova Records	Justin Biggs	Bass
Release	18 May 2011	Jonathan Persson	Drums
Country	Sweden	-	Keyboard
Producer	Daniel Abela
Similar artists	---

Already during the second song, Among The Ruins, I'm thinking that this is music that is sounding really well. The production is very much appreciated sitting with a pair of subpar headphones punched deep into my ears. I'm most impressed with how well I can hear the guitars - which certainly doesn't hurt considering that Descend has two brilliant axe-men in Alex Wijkman and Andreas Lindström that can play both very melodic and hard like wreckingballs.

I'm struck by just how seasoned the band is sounding - considering that Through The Eyes Of The Burdened is the band's debut is very promising in regards to the future. All songs are on a good level and put together the result becomes an almost perfect package. I'm quite simply very impressed by this lot. Descend has managed to find the delicate but oh so important balance between the harshness needed in death metal and the melodic elements that really makes the record as good as it is.

If pressed on naming one thing that isn't as good, I could add that I find the record to lack some speed to it. Descend are very good in playing groovy, but it certainly hadn't hurt to have at least one song that explored some faster playing.

I've mentioned the guitarists - the fact is that I'm very much impressed by all the musicians on the record. The drumming from Jonathan Persson is a pure joy to listen to: technically brilliant and very flexible. Persson really is playing for the songs without holding back his ability and is weaving in some very nice details in every song. Justin Biggs handles the bass just beautifully - the support he's giving to his fellows is fantastic. Singer Nima Farhadian Langroudi executes the growl as well as the clean vocals very well.

Through The Eyes Of The Burdened is a record that makes me very much looking forward to following Descend in the future - the skills displayed on the record ought to make the journey very interesting indeed.

Performance	Originality	Production	Vocals	Songwriting
8	7	9	7	7

Summary
7 chalices of 10 - Martin