Let me preface this:
(a) In the music industry, you cannot both be honest and successful. The entire industry is calibrated to reward "friendships" which ignore product quality, which is why (1) ranks are closed and (2) they always get caught by surprise when holding a turd. Hollywood and other highly social industries are the same way.
(b) The entire old school cheering squad wants to love this one. I hate cheering squads, because they are also oblivious to reality. If you want to defend the old school, you want to defend its COMPETITIVE heights of musical power, not pro-forma incarnations.
A brief review:
This album exists on two levels, aesthetics and composition. Aesthetically, it's a smooth blend of Demigod, Entombed and early NYDM. Compositionally, it's closer to Death and early Amorphis.
These songs are basically two riffs, with a few alternates that are mostly the same notes played in a different order and rhythm, although the occasional optional promenade conclusion appears. Riffs follow the pattern of middle-era Death: big intervals zooming up the scale, then chromatic fills that really hammer home a basic rhythm. Motifs borrowed (especially from Slumber of Sullen Eyes and Clandestine) frost that cake.
Craig Pillard's vocals are awesome but the rather boxy time signatures don't give him much to work with.
This sort of scratches the underground death metal itch, but only when it's on in the background. There is too much here that is random, blocky, OBVIOUS or confused.