Band:	Fisthammer
Album:	Devour All You See
Style:	Melodic death metal, Technical death metal
Release date:	January 24, 2012
A review by:	Doc G.

01. Intro / The Final Hour of Darkness
02. Razor Waves
03. Aten: Fear The Obliteration Of Earth
04. Kull The Conqueror
05. Bullet Rape
06. Berzerkers
07. Doom Of The Gods
08. Harvest
09. Zombocalypse
10. Cross The Lines In Blood
11. The Resurrection Of Bastet The Devourer

You know what the problem is with so much melodic death metal? Too much melo and not enough death. It seems if you add death growls onto any sort of melodic riffing, it's melodeath, maybe that's just the way it's supposed to work, who knows. Whatever the case, Fisthammer seem to have remembered both sides equally, as Devour All You See is a blazing technical death metal album that manages to retain a high level of digestibility.

Are you going to be completely blown away by this album? Probably not. There's not a really big reason to be, as no new ground is truly broken. But is it good? Oh, hell yes it is. They've managed to bring two great things together and balance them out tastefully to create an absolutely solid album.

Here's what it's like; technical death metal, a lot of the times, is incredibly entertaining...for about two or three songs, then it becomes really forgettable, if not entirely irritating. Once the technical prowess reveals itself as a waste, the novelty is gone and thus the value of the album. That's not a strict rule, mind you, but let's be honest with ourselves, it's far from being uncommon. Albums like that are usually trouser-shittingly awesome exclusively in the first few minutes.

Now on the other side, there's melodeath. Cotton-candy sort of fun. Yeah, those high-soaring melodic leads are grabbing at first, but the lack of unrestrained aggression really fails to sate that lust for the sonic equivalent of eating a bucket of gravel. Too hard for the mellow mood, too soft for the shit-stomping mood. Once again, not a strict rule, just a common occurrence.

Now there's Fisthammer; they take the teeth-shattering rage expressed through jagged riffs you want to hear in your tech-death, but somehow twist these great riffs back into a more flowing, linear path to make it some good catchy melodeath.

The great kicker? None. It's gritty, angry, and varied enough within their parameters that it's engaging until the end. Devour All You See is a must-hear for anyone who wants no-bullshit death metal that still sounds fresh.