There continues the saga of Death. The deadly topics of the lyrics are still there, but the main and most important ingredient of death metal is gone - the vocals. Chuck Schuldiner, being a true thrash vocalist, doesn't betray his nature and after torturing his throat on "Scream Bloody Gore", he sounds still very brutal, but not so convincing. From modern point of view, this wouldn't be an impressive performance, although brutality in the face of Cannibal Corpse still exists. For its time this would be one of the rawest vocal performances. However, the album is fast, technical and the vocals are not quite death, so I label it thrash.

Not that good a thrash album, but worth hearing. It is a bit too monotonous and wouldn't manage to nail the modern death listener.

We still have the aggressive drumming, the bass beating in our ears and the superb, precise and genial solos, but the guys can't quite get the momentum and tend to linger helplessly in good, but not titanic guitar motives.

Still, this is one of the heaviest thrash metal albums for its time and becomes a milestone for every band, not sure what to play - thrash or death metal.

This one, without being a bad album, could though easily go as being Death's second weakest album, in light of all of the follow-up albums. It makes it a good item to have in your collection, however.

Rating: 8