MEMORIAM
To the End CD

Reaper Entertainment, cd jewelcase, It is the beginning of a new era. Already since the first days of October, the smoke is drifting again over Northampton near London. The machinery is well oiled, the plan excellent - MEMORIAM have recorded their fourth studio album! The pace at which the Brits have been working since their early days is tremendous and amazing. Only in 2016 the band inaugurated the public about their existence. Since those days, however, the machines never stand still. The British death lead squad caused a big rumble shortly after the first rumors about where the journey should go. "The Hellfire Demos" hits the worldwide scene with its old-school death metal and leaves speechless mouths agape, raving about the excitement of this achievement to this day. When "For The Fallen", the debut album, is unleashed on mankind via Nuclear Blast Records in 2017, the impression is all the more tremendous - a historic act for metal history. But as already said, with MEMORIAM there is no standstill. Meanwhile emancipated from the other bands of the troupe, they write their very own history. If the first album was still heavy, depressing and characterized by sadness, the second work "The Silent Vigil" (2018) showed a relentless, attacking side. And this also applies to the third strike "Requiem For Mankind", which is unmistakably in the short but impressive tradition of previous MEMORIAM works. After this concentrated death metal trilogy, all signs pointed to a change. As if they wanted to completely break away from their old roots, the band looked for a new home and signed a worldwide record deal with the up-and-coming label Reaper Entertainment. Also drummer Andy Whale had to take a forced break for health reasons, whereupon Spike T Smith, a close friend of the band, took over the position. Nevertheless, "To The End" follows the tradition of its predecessors without leaving a hint of doubt that one of the strongest albums of 2021 is lurking here. Once again the groove is monstrous, the riffs mercilessly deadly and the atmosphere oppressive, paralyzing, even overwhelming. Willett's aggressive vocals add the proverbial icing on the cake to the sound picture. "To The End" is a tremendous demonstration of power that impressively combines all the elements of its predecessors and paints a frightening picture of war, death and doom, at the end of which nothing but ashes and the realization of a masterpiece remain. The grandiose songwriting and the first-class recordings are rounded off by the production of Russ Russell (NAPALM DEATH, DIMMU BORGIR, AT THE GATES, AMORPHIS etc.) at Parlour Studios, which comes across charmingly "down to earth" but wonderfully differentiated to give every detail on "To The End" its deserved space.