Long seen as an evil/blackened sibling of COB, for the similarly melodic, albeit far more deadly/aggressive, approach (try ‘Uhrimalja’). Now minus keyboards, the opening strains of Catamenia’s eighth album threw me for a loop, sedate/serene before Ari Nissila’s voice kicks in, as does the megaton instrumentation.

Actually, the Finns employ three vocalist: Nissila, bassist Toni Kansanoja for death grunts and Kari “I’m a Dude” Vahakuopus on the sporadic clean (oft backing) lyric. In addition to a punky version of Faith No More’s ‘From Out Of Nowhere’, there’s a pair of bonuses sung in their native tongue (as are ‘Tuhon Oma’ and the aforementioned ‘Uhrimalja’ within the proper eleven) and the CD booklet includes a multi-page history of the band, particularly handy for those outside Suomi. The lengthy, sustained growl on ‘Alive…Cold…Dead!’ is unreal.

Unfortunately, the data Massacre stored on the disc (title, tracklisting, times, etc.) is actually that of their ’06 release, Location: Cold, down to the WASP cover tune! No respect as Rodney Dangerfield used to say. Time to get on a label that can take you to the next level, if not at least keep up with the digital age. A strong sense of melody runs through the riff-ride entitled ‘Embody And Behold’, whereas much of ‘Fallen’ is nearly a cappella, at least acoustic, and almost exclusively (multiple) clean voices. A rarity.

Recognition is long overdue.