My how this band changed. I don’t even recognize them anymore. While not entirely innovative on their last album, Bloody Blasphemy, they created a wonderful blend of melodic death, thrash with a small, minute amount of black metal and their songwriting was just perfect all around. They had a well-oiled machine going. Now what? They’ve eschewed most of the keyboards they used to deploy so brilliantly (and minimalistically) and have gone for a more straightforward approach, but the songwriting lacks the depth and strength of the previous album. On first listen, I wondered, "Is this Amon Amarth?" Any identifiable traits the band may have had are seemingly missing here. The songwriting isn’t bad, but occasionally it leaves a lot to be desired, as it is fairly one-dimensional. The and’s thrashy elements are still there, but they were deployed much better on the album before, with much better drumming from the now departed Roel, and more sensible riffing. "Swallow the Spikes" features a wonderful bridge, a throwback to their older sound, but most of the other tunes are mired in generic death/thrash that fails to entertain by the fifth track. Even the cover of Death’s "Evil Dead" is lacking that certain spark necessary to put it over the top. While Bloody Blasphemy had contrast and well-structured songs, this sounds like a rush job. There’s much better to slap your well-earned cash out there for.