The grindcore supergroup of intense proportions is back once again and they aren’t fucking around with this release. This of course is perfect considering their current touring schedule which includes Napalm Death, Power Trip and Brujeria!!! With Shane Embury and Nick Barker, the two ever present members (bass and drums respectively) joined by long standing guitarist Anton Reisenegger once more, the speed, the power and the riffs are what we should expect from this long standing collaboration. Handling vocal duties this time in place of Tomas Lindberg is Brutal Truth frontman Kevin Sharp, making this yet again, another incredible line up in the realms of extreme metal. Anyway, sell your souls here folks, its Demonization time!

After a brief and ominous sample, its full speed ahead as “Blood And Emptiness” launches itself right at you with blistering pace and intense fury. A full on, venom laced, scathing assault on all fronts acts as the perfect opening assault and even the brief slow down partway through the track leaves little room as speed is exchanged for sinister. The thundering bass, ridiculously paced blastbeats and buzzsaw riffs strike hard and the screamed vocals just round it off nicely.

It isn’t just speed which is on offer on this release (though that is a massive component of it!). “The Decay Within The Abyss” has a pseudo-Black Metal feel to it which bears some similarities to the sound Goatwhore is known for and it packs quite the punch from a rhythmic perspective as its thunderous groove hammers away. Title track “Demonization” slows the album down a little, focusing more on a groove orientated approach which steadily builds a crushing atmosphere and brings with it a crushing feeling of hopelessness, giving a real slice of punishing death metal just to freshen things up.

Aside from the two tracks mentioned above, the rest of the release is just copious amounts of rapid fire, grindcore glory. The intense speed in Barkers drumming just shows why he is one of the most respected musicians in extreme metal and Embury’s iconic low end thunder and basslines really work well in combination, providing an almost perfect rhythm section for any fast paced, hard hitting, intensity fuelled musical hate machine. Reisenegger’s twisting and rapid fire riff bursts when combined with this make a furious wall of sound which hits like a tidal wave, crushing everything in its path and if you don’t believe me, simply listen to “Locust”, “Instruments Of Armageddon”, “Sunk” or “Foul From The Pure”.

“Demonization” is one release this year you really should be listening to. Nothing else needs to be said really. Expect to see this in plenty of ‘Album Of The Year’ lists come late November/early December!

(9.5/10 Fraggle)