PRETERNATURAL

Due to my own subjective preferences, I've grown accustomed to regarding the acronym "MDM" with skepticism, but here's the catch — in the press release from the issuing label, I spotted the magical phrase "ultra-low guitar riffs," and I was seduced. Well, the guitars are indeed tuned a bit lower than the standard MDM fare, but they're still quite far from being ultra-low. Since the main selling point that seduced yours truly was decisively dismissed, what remains upon inspection? Essentially, almost nothing. Classic and standard (read: boring and tiresome) modern material that can only be called death metal based on circumstantial evidence. Yes, the guitar riffs are indeed heavy, the solos are not devoid of beauty and a certain elegance, the rhythm section is precise and meaty, and the screaming quasi-growl with fashionable core intonations is by no means bad. But here's the problem: the ingredients themselves, properly selected and combined in the right proportions, do not necessarily yield a successful result. To achieve the latter, one needs a small detail — a unique identity — which the Latvians, unfortunately, have yet to find.