Forlorn - The Forlorn Hope.

Thanks to James (vocals/guitar) for the copy of the CD. Five tracks are;

1. Culture Shock. Brutal sludgy riff starts the ball rolling before vicious, hate-filled, vocals pre-empt a faster, bludgeoning death metal track. Tempo changes are all effective and are handled proficiently. The closing fade out is a nice touch.
2. Law Of Hate. Carnage from the word go, starts off ferociously, before the main body of the song slows things down, but increases the neck-snapping nature of the riffs. Closes with a furious blast-beating section which works well.
3. Malevolent. Instrumental which contains lots of soloing, much of which has a classic Obituary feel. Slows down almost to doom speed at times, it's always entertaining. A brave move, well executed.
4. The Forlorn Hope. The title track and the standout song on the EP. Brooding opening before all hell breaks loose. Concussive opening riff. Well structured, this track is an absolute cracker.
5. In The Face Of Terror. Blistering finale. Is that a bass solo I detected? Quality song to round things off.

Forlorn could easily be pigeon-holed as death metal but that seems a bit simplistic as there are hardcore and doom leanings here as well. There's far more soloing than you usually hear in this type of metal which makes a pleasant change. The slower sections have considerable menace and generate more than ample power. The faster sections will certainly satisfy death metal purists too. Write a full length that mixes things up as well as this and you should have a winner on your hands fellas!