Band:	Sphere
Album:	Homo Hereticus
Style:	Death metal
Release date:	February 10, 2012
A review by:	Troy Killjoy

01. Forever Sworn To Blasphemy
02. Godless Profanity
03. Third Scent Carcass
04. Sadistfucktion
05. Homo Hereticus
06. Holistic Paralisys
07. Psalm To The Dark One
08. Grave's Cold Darkness
09. Vengeance Is The Core Of All
10. Devils Reunion
11. Beyond Madness Of Gods
12. War

Another Polish death metal album in 2012? Chopin's not good enough for you guys anymore or what?

So the guy's been dead for 150 years - that's still plenty of time to appreciate his music. Whatever, I suppose cranking Behemoth and Vader tracks all the time gets pretty old too, so checking out bands like Sphere certainly isn't going to hurt you. Unless you're not into death metal. Or Poland. Or lame puns being used as album titles.

With that said, Homo Hereticus is a really fun, catchy death metal album with a ton of groovy licks and hints of melody. The entire package screams old school revivalism, but what contemporary death metal release doesn't? What's good about this release, aside from the Entombed meets Blood Red Throne thing, is that it doesn't try too hard. They don't try too hard to be anyone else, nor do they try too hard to not be anyone else. Their style is genuine and their compositions feel more organic as a result.

The concise thrash vibe lends its hand to the already aggressive d-beat-inspired sound, fusing a punk-ish sense of chaos with a fast-paced and somewhat technical death metal, heavy on grind-esque drum blasts and featuring deep raspy growls. Even a little Aborted at times. Thrash, d-beat, punk, tech-death, grindcore. Not exactly what you'd call the least original combination of sub-genres given the old school revivalism you're expecting from the opening track.

Perhaps the most significant issue these guys face is their penchant for including far too many filler tracks. While the overall material presents itself rather cohesively, a track-by-track listening exposes some of the weaker tracks, limiting the fun factor but never turning the listener off completely. After all, the groovy foundation is strong enough to at least entertain thoughts of mindless headbanging, distracting the listener momentarily from some repetition and recycled riffs.

Sphere may not be a top-tier death metal band in Poland, but if they move away from their filler-laden songwriting process with future releases while maintaining their primarily death metal oriented fusion of various extreme sub-genres, they may just break through the barriers set in place by the likes of those two bigger names and make a real name for themselves.