Ezurate
Infernal Dominatio
[Forever Underground]


This is a CD demo from the US (Illinois) Black Metal band Ezurate. They play rather straightforward Black Metal - no keyboards or folk elements, just relentless attack. I hear a good deal of Bathory and older Mayhem influence here (not a bad thing by any means), but Ezurate has certainly added some of its own flavor to the mix.

As far as the music goes, it's quite competent. The drums are the standout here - they lead the attack, alternating between blasting and triumphant slower passages. The guitar and bass are good, too, and Ezurate has a lot of unit cohesion, allowing the band to move as one. The only real complaint I have in the music department is the vocals. They're pretty generic overall, and sound a bit disinterested in some places.

The real strength of Ezurate is the songwriting - there are seven songs here, and all of them suggest a high standard of composition. There's a lot of room for improvement, especially in some of the solos which seem a bit immature, but with some work Ezurate will be a truly worthy addition to the USBM hordes.

Standout tracks: "Baptism By Fire", "Season of the Witch".


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