As far as I know, this is the first time I'm reviewing a CD by a band from Belarus. From where you say? Well, the Republic of Belarus is a flat piece of land (population: 10.4 million) straddling the shortest route between Moscow and the Polish border. That's all the tourist information I can give you, except that there's at least one death/thrash band residing there. Apparently ASGUARD are something of a big deal there, playing the same venues normally reserved for the likes of IRON MAIDEN and JUDAS PRIEST and having shared the stage with MAYHEM and EMPEROR.

Well, there's certainly a few good things to be said about this album so let's start with that. For starters musically it's all pretty solid. Although the grunting vocals and lots of fast beats keep it firmly rooted in the death/thrash scene, their brand of thrash is so melodic, and filled with so many breaks and twin guitar harmonies that it occasionally veers pretty close to 'regular' and semi-prog metal. Think ANNIHILATOR and bands like that. There's also a decent version of JUDAS PRIEST's "Leather Rebel", proving these guys have their metal hearts in the right place. And any band that has the nerve to put an H.P. Lovecraft poem to music ("The Ancient Track") gets some extra sympathy points in my book.

Unfortunately there's also some things on this record that I'm not too crazy about. The guitar sound is wafer-thin and the canny drum sound is simply intolerable. There's also the fact that I just can't figure out of this is supposed to be a regular album or merely a collection of early demos or EPs or whatever. The badly written press info doesn't make things any clearer either. After the track list (which is a mess to begin with) is over we get six more tracks, without song titles or any info whatsoever. If this CD is indeed a collection of demos, I can understand the poor sound quality but that still does nothing to enhance my listening enjoyment. The musical talent is definitely there. All they need is to find an actual producer. Maybe if that happens, we'll see if the Belarus metal scene is a force to be reckoned with in the future.

- Van Hoften

OFFICIAL SITE: http://asguard.metal4.com

MP3 SOUND SCRAP: Doomed

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