When I first heard the name "Acoustic Torment" I thought it was both cheesy and yet kinda cool at the same time. So I purchased the cd based upon the fact that it was advertised as "death metal in the vein of Crimson Thorn". Well, Crimson Thorn it ain't but quality death metal it is! These guys are from Germany and the European influences show heavily especially in the second track "Sick World" with lots of airy melodic guitar lines laid over a really killer double bass attack. This song (which has an acoustic clear vox intro and interlude mid-way through) reminds me a bit of Amorphis on the Tales from a Thousand Lakes cd. After that the band kicks into gear with some modern groove style death and then eventually dives head first into the territory known as "American death style", complete with enough blast beats to make even the most deathly death-head happy. The vocals are guttural and delivered very smoothly. The vocalist sounds like he is in his natural habitat here and sounds neither strained nor monotonous. The vocals vary from extreme guttural (ala Crimson Thorn) to the more raspy type (ala Feast Eternal). The production is clear, thick and solid. Although it seems like the bass guitar really isn't doing much, maybe I have just been listening to Lament too much lately (heh). Overall this isn't really a technical death album, mostly lots of groove-death, but it does have its moments. The intro to "Environmental Disaster" is done with blurring skill and parts of other songs speed up to a pace that is only rivaled by black metal masters but almost always slows back down very quickly. There is also a beautiful violin part in the break in the song "Total Global Annihilation And The Return Of Jesus Christ" for all you doom fans. On that same track if you listen closely you will hear a short but sweet guitar riff appear and disappear that sounds a lot like old Tourniquet. This cd is a solid 9 tracks long. Technically there are 17 tracks BUT tracks 10 - 17 are nothing more than the downfall of this great cd. 10 through 17 are noise and nothing more... I won't even go into detail except to tell you that one of the tracks is simply an earlier song played back in slow-motion... absolutely annoying stuff at the end. I am taking off a point just for that.
7.5/10
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