Nocturnal Horde

Grade: 7,5/10

After a while of silence, is the Danish band Compos Mentis now ready with the follow up, to their debut full length "Fragments Of A Withered Dream" from 2003. "Gehennesis" is the new album, which once again is going to place Compos Mentis on the melodic metal map.

It doesn't take long to state that the band is consisting of great musicians and that Compos Mentis has used a lot of time to craft the album, the song writing is good and the rough edges have been polished off, so "Gehennesis" is presented as a well oiled atmospheric tour de force of melodic death metal, with elements of light gothic/black metal thrown into the blend.

Even though the music on the album is really well-written and performed, some parts bring in memories of already heard music, and that is a shame, not that the elements doesn't fit it, they fit in perfectly, though I can't help thinking of Dani Filth during some of the vocals, and In Flames during some melodies and melodic breaks, and the way some of the cleaner vocals enter the picture. Though when that is said, all the music is well made and even better performed. I know it's hard to make unique music, though the solutions the band once in a while utilizes, just seems too easy for such a talented band as Compos Mentis is.

The lyrical part is also great and when you first get into that side of the band, the whole of "Gehennesis" will fall in place and the album will grow on you, as the 2 parts work really well together, the shifting atmospheres of the music is spot on, nice to see an album so well tied together, when speaking of music, atmospheres and lyrics. The production of the album is well made as well, it is Ziggy and Tue Madsen who have handled the knobs, and they've given the album a powerful, yet clean sound, which fits the music really well.

I used quite some time to get into the album, it is not one that opens at once, though the time is rewarding and the album is good, when it has had the needed time in the CD player. Fans of thought-through melodic atmospheric death metal with darker parts will go apeshit over this album, that's for sure!