Band:	Kadavar (ITA)
Album:	Kadavar
Style:	Death metal
Release date:	2009

01. From Flesh To Sorrow
02. Return To Ashes
03. Behind The Storm
04. Global Collapse
05. Towards The Abyss
06. Morbid Sense Of Weakness
07. Lust Of Mortal Decay
08. Ghost Of Revelation
09. Mirror Of Lies

Imagine, you're browsing a CD rack, and you pick this one. See the logo. The name. The artwork by Dan Seagrave. Every metalhead could say it's gonna be a death metal record.
Guess what? It IS death metal.

Kadavar hail from Italy (a country whose death metal scene seems to be growing everyday), and this eponymous album is their first one, after a demo called Moderns Visions Of Human Madness (2006) and an EP, Conjuring The Void (2008). Their influences clearly lie within the Floridian Death metal scene and bands such as Death, Morbid Angel, and so on... So yes, expect countless breaks, complex and incisive riffs, crushing drumming and a high complexity level. In this regard, the band delivers without doubt, as the musicians' technical level is as good as needed in the style. Plus, there are a few melodic parts that add a nice respite, just a little breath of fresh air before the assault starts again. The final song, Mirror Of Lies, is the typical example of what Kadavar can do when they calm down and go melodic, as it's an ethereal and beautiful instrumental. The production is nice, clean and powerful, with an emphasis during the solos, as the rest of the songs seems to be a little 'muted' in comparison.

However, this album doesn't catch the attention during the whole listen. Or, at least, I personally found my mind wandering quite often. So yes, song by song it is good, but the whole album can be boring. Or that's just me. A shame, really, as the songs themselves are interesting and varied. It's just that the whole pack sounds often the same, mostly because of the drums, who are globally less varied and interesting than the rest of the instruments. So, either you're a fan of the style and the drums won't get you all drowsy, or you're not.

Conclusion: a good album from a promising band, but I'm not sure if it will grab the attention of non-death metal fans (but, is it the point anyway?). However, a bit more personality and variety could just better the whole thing.

As a side note, I must add that the cover is not by Dan Seagrave, even if his artworks really inspired the artist (one Marco Hassman, who did a great job anyway).