Band:	Scent Of Death
Album:	Of Martyrs's Agony And Hate
Style:	Brutal death metal
Release date:	January 31, 2013
A review by:	BloodTears

01. Awakening Of The Liar
02. The Enemy Of My Enemy
03. Ego Te Provoco (Beatus Vir Qui Suffert Temptationem)
04. Feeling The Fear
05. A Simple Twist Of Fate
06. Man Kills, God Too
07. The Father's Sins
08. The Sleeper Must Awake
09. Sear Me In A Sea Of Snakes

Where is the peace of your God?

As the line from "The Father's Sins" illustrates, and if the cover artwork wasn't symbolic enough with Jesus' guts gushing out, I can assure you that you can expect Of Martyrs's Agony And Hate to be a profane exercise. Scent Of Death are like a powerful machine of death metal. They represent its fast, extreme, dark and brutal side. As a warning, this album is a nasty beating. It will feel similar to when you stay under water without being able to breathe for a while. Only in this case, you might actually enjoy it.

The distorted intro of the album introduces the dark atmosphere, points you in the right direction and when the infectious opener "Awakening Of The Liar" blasts in, you know exactly what you are listening to. The deep growls and decent production show up in all its guts and glory and you hear a bit of that clinical side of Nile. Filled with melodic solos, the band immediately shows their melodic side even though it is secondary on most of the songs.

Of Martyrs's Agony And Hate is the Spaniards Scent Of Death's second album. Their technical proficiency and dizzying consistency lasts for about 39 minutes but they occasionally slow things down like in the impending doom of the instrumental "The Sleeper Must Awake" and mid-tempo songs where the groove is more important like in the infernal "Ego Te Provoco" and the slowly terrorizing "A Simple Twist Of Fate". However, their most exciting material comes when they vary the pace with impressive agility going back and forth between torrents of ripping riffs.

In the end, this album shows no mercy towards the listener. You will have to endure an army of unrelenting force, full-throttle attacks and blast beats. The problem of the album is that sometimes the band gets stuck and doesn't seem to manage to free itself from rehashed ideas. While the album can surely pack a punch, it is not a full knockout.

Standout tracks: "Awakening Of The Liar", "The Father's Sins", "Sear Me In A Sea Of Snakes".