Band:	Age Of Woe
Album:	Inhumanform
Style:	Crust Punk, Death metal
Release date:	May 31, 2013
A review by:	X-Ray Rod

01. Like Embers
02. The King Of Thieves
03. The Antagonist
04. Black Rain
05. At First Light
06. Red Eyes
07. Cold Cycle
08. A Rite Of Passage

"Organically recorded hardcore-inspired metal somewhere between Entombed and Converge". This isn't only how Age Of Woe describes themselves but also a great start point for everyone to pay attention to this album. Their music is as natural and direct as the way I discovered them : Free gig at the bar, beer in hand and some violent music. At the end of the night introductions were made and hands were shaken. No bullshit music for no bullshit people.

What this swedish band shows us with their debut is a brand of death metal with lots of groove-fueled hooks and influences from the D-beat/crust scene that is just as vibrant in Sweden as the death metal one. The catchy soloing provides some of the fun-factor typical of the death 'n' roll sound while the powerful riffs together with the great production produces a heavy sound which is particularly notorious once they slow things down, almost achieving a doomy-vibe every once in a while (the later half of "Black Rain" being a fine example of that). Both the bass and drums serve as the main backbone with the later being very variable throughout the whole album and responsible for most of the D-beat influences. The main vocals are reminiscent of L-G Petrov (from Entombed) but lower and more agressive in their approach with some backing hardcore screams that chime in at the right moments.

Being barely 3 years old and with only an EP previous to Inhumanform, Age Of Woe gives us a solid debut that definitely raises some expectations to what they will do next.

You can buy Inhumanform and other cool merchandise here!