Band:	Act Of Gods
Album:	Stench Of Centuries
Style:	Brutal death metal
Release date:	2004

01. Flagellation
02. Obscene Messiah
03. Misanthropic Chainsaw Dismemberment
04. Zombie Cutsfuck
05. Cathedral Of Flesh
06. Devil's Whore
07. Resistance
08. Dead End
09. Beyond The Myth
10. Scent Of A Burning Angel
11. Atheist Synthesis

A bit of history: Act Of Gods was created in 2001out of the ashes of the cult French death metal act Mutilated. Phil (guitars) and Guillaume (drums) were two members of this legendary band. Act Of Gods recorded one demo in 2002, 'Dies Irae' which was praised by the critics and got them a deal with Osmose Records. So Stench Of Centuries is their debut album. For the fans, don't expect any kind of lame comparison with Mutilated, because although I am French, I have never heard even just a song of this legendary band. Ok, let's get over my metal ignorance and back to the core of the problem.

First, the artwork is really inspired, although quite common, but it is really well done, very disturbing and evil. After something like that, I don't expect from them mellow melodies and songs about how to kill the nasty dragon that terrorizes our blessed land. For those who don't know yet, Act Of Gods play brutal death metal. Yes, it includes loads of deep growlings and screams (excellent singer by the way), a dozen tons of blastbeats, and most of the time the pace is? well, really really fast. But no, it is not a pale copy of Cannibal Corpse or whatever other 'trendy' brutal death band. Act Of Gods, like some other French brutal death bands (Carnal Lust for example), manages to create new things with old recipes, by this I mean they just don't sound like anything else.

I usually reproach brutal death bands for not being able to bring a bit of variety in their music, in other words for always sounding the same and being boring on the long term. Here, nothing like this. Even if the songs are a sometimes a bit too long (my only criticism actually), they are full of breaks, rhythm changes and creepy, a bit 'fucked up' and abnormal guitar riffs that cut through the mind of the poor listener like old rusted razorblades. The excellent production brings us back to the beginning of the 90's and adds a somewhat creepy and evil dimension to Stench Of Centuries (once again, congratulations to the LB Lab and Stéphane Buriez who has to be ranked amongst the best producers of the world), just like the distorted solos that remind of a dark Slayer. This is all very old school, but so well done that I can only applause.

At the first listening this album sounds like a massive mess, but it is in fact extremely technical, absolutely well written, and quite catchy. All in all, Stench Of Centuries is a very good album and an excellent surprise.