"And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth." King James Bible, Revelation 5.6



Now usually I do not immediately crank open the Bible for a quote, I tend to burn once my fingers touch the pages if I am honest, however I knew I had seen the words 'seven horns and seven eyes' before. So I did myself a little hunt in a King James and came across the reference and I must say, 'tis very appropriate for this exciting death Metal outfit from Seattle.

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A little insight before I begin. The number seven denotes perfection, of which this band is quite successfully striving towards. The horn is a symbol of immense power and strength, something which these guys have in abundance and is evident within their music.

The eyes represent intelligence. This is incorporated in the sheer beauty in which this album is crafted, produced and mixed in Aaron Smith's very own Envisage Audio studio. And finally the Lamb, which is a symbol of innocence and sacrifice, is linked in with these guys as once you listen to their music your innocence will be sacrificed on the altar of great Metal.

Anyway let's get to the album now! From the outset what immediately struck me with the first track, 'Divine Amnesty', is the absolute and sheer aggression that emits from the speakers whilst listening. Initially beginning with a sublime use of strings after which it progresses into some fantastically raw and animalistic vocals. Couple this with some outstanding instrumentals and you have yourself a pretty awesome start to the full length debut album from these Seattle guys! It certainly had me questioning my unswerving loyalty to thrash Metal.

Heading from there into 'Phumis:...' and the quality is unabated as it continues its march through the tracklist. Heavier start than the last track, it immerses you immediately into some bloody awesome, dark and ominous music which delights and defiles in equal measure. It has a very demonic and brutal sound which really grabs the listener and pulls them into it in a very tight embrace whilst their ears are being pleasantly violated. Quality and power continue their march onward.

As we head further and further onwards we are treated to much of the same which is by no means a bad thing. If you love your albums powerful, raw, brutal and dark then you could do a lot worse than this epic album from 7Horns7Eyes. I particularly enjoyed the tracks entitled 'Cycle Of Self', 'Delusions' and 'The Winnowing' and urge you to have these on repeat a fair few times. In fact throw the whole album on repeat and immerse yourself in a dark, brutal world for a while.

I do not think this album breaks new ground but then again I don't think it needs to. What we have here is some superbly performed, hugely accomplished, powerful and intelligently achieved death Metal. Definitely a full length debut to be extremely proud of.

I looked to the heavens to find the quote to begin this review. I searched the 'Holy' book (dripping sarcasm there) at great personal risk to my own self, but what I found in this album is that this is the music that belongs in Hell and I mean that in the best possible way. If Satan released a compilation album I am sure there will be some 7Horns7Eyes on there.

Sacrifice your innocence and indulge in raw power. This should reign on Hell's playlist.

24.4.12