Nonexist - Deus Deceptor

I have such mixed feelings about this album. It has great musicianship, promising song-writing and some pretty interesting hooks. Yet for some reason I just can't fully embrace it. It has so many good things going for it, but I just can't help but feel that I've heard it all before. The album can be generally typified as mostly tech-death drawl followed with the occasional hook or, whatever you would call interesting sections. As I listened to it, I felt if they only opened up their melodies just a little bit more, they could pull off something a bit more memorable. Johan Liiva's voice, despite being a surprising fit for Arch Enemy back in the day, just hasn't seemed to age well and just seems to get more generic with each new release he's involved in. 7.4/10

Yes, just yes.