Band:	Polterchrist
Album:	Engulfed By The Swarm
Style:	Death metal
Release date:	October 04, 2004
A review by:	Deadsoulman

01. Alone
02. The Sun Will Burn Black
03. Terminal
04. Lies... Pain... Hate
05. The Art Of Ferocity
06. Here We Lie
07. Engulfed By The Swarm
08. Desolate Paradise
09. The Battle

Polterchrist... Another anonymous and common death/black band from the US? Wrong! Unlike their fellow countrymen Council Of The Fallen that I angrily reviewed thirty minutes ago, Polterchrist has everything necessary to impose its mark in the metal world, especially a good dose of personality.

It's quite obvious when you hear this 'Engulfed By The Swarm' that these guys are no newcomers: they have an amazing ability to vary their music, from extreme violence to technical violence (I know it doesn't make a big difference to most people but still...), from fast-paced music and blastbeats to extremely melodic passages. They have the grind/death 'The Sun Will Burn Black', and just after a melodic/acoustic/doomy intro a la Dark Tranquillity on 'Terminal' (undoubtedly THE 'highlight' of the album).

They are even not afraid to experiment, like on 'Lies... Pain... Hate', where there are some clean backing vocals that remind me of the moanings of Himinbjorg (not sure they've taken influence from the French Pagan metal band though). I've been extremely surprised by 'The Art Of Ferocity' and its dark electro intro. The whole song after that keeps an industrial feeling, in the riffs and the way of singing. The closing track 'The Battle' displays an epic and catchy death metal that reminds of the golden age of the Florida scene, but with the addition of a melodic thrashy outro to it that still makes me headbang whereas there's no music anymore. Awesome...

Actually Polterchrist seems torn between melodic death metal, true brutal death and black metal. I guess they've not been able to choose between these styles, because you can find elements taken from each of them in every song. So 'Engulfed By The Swarm' could have gone in all directions, but these guys sure know their songwriting. Every song is a jewel of complexity (just try 'Here We Lie'...), and it's all done with a mastering that leaves me mouth gaping and with a stupid stunned look in my eyes. Plus the production is perfect, I can't find a flaw in the sound.

What more can I say? 'Engulfed By The Swarm' is brilliant, Polterchrist is now ready to kick asses worldwide. You know what you have to do on October 4th.

Highlights: Terminal, The Art Of Ferocity, Here We Lie, The Battle