Band:	Blackguard
Album:	Another Round
Style:	Folk metal, Power metal
Release date:	November 2008

01. This Round's On Me
02. Cinder
03. In Time
04. Scarlet To Snow
05. I Demon
06. The Sword

Profugus Mortis, who recently changed their name to Blackguard, already bemused me with an incredible debut that mixed black/gothic roots with Bodomesque extreme power metal, entitled ... So it Begins. With their EP Another Round, Profugus Mortis prove to be an accomplished band and smash us right in the teeth with a more powerful, more imaginative and much faster sound.

Justine Éthier's drumming is explosive, Paul Ablaze's vocals are more extreme than ever, guitar solos are as impressive as early Children Of Bodom (especially the track In Time, which is their most Bodomesque song so far) and keyboards are simply epic, with a more folkish sound than on their debut. And of course, there is that awesome violin that gives every song a touch of Quebec folklore. The main improvement since ... So it Begins is definitively the speed. The fastest and most trashy track on their debut was probably Vile, while the other songs were mid-tempo and featured less than impressive bass-drumming. But every single track on Another Round is fast and furious and reminds me of Ensiferum or Finntroll, particularly the track This Round's on Me, a song that features catchy pirate-like keyboards and makes you want to dance like a hobbit... Try out Scarlet to Snow, too, it's probably the best one on this wondrous EP.

On the whole, a solid EP that's worth the listen and gives and idea of what their second full-length album will sound like.