Punish - Dawn Of The Martyr
Quam Libet Records

file under death metal / grindcore

Nima: According to their biography, Punish has been around for about ten years and have released two demos and a full-length album so far. This however is my first acquaintance with this band and a rather shocking one! Because the band literally blasts out of the speakers with the very first second with a raging mix of technical death and black metal en well, if you’re not prepared for it and the speakers are fully open at that moment… But anyway, this band plays a highly technical mix of black and death metal. Due to the massive sound the name Dimmu Borgir comes up in me from time to time and also the spirit of the later Carcass can be heard here and there. But the technical side of Morbid Angel can also be recognized in some of the riffs. But don’t get me wrong, because Punish is not a copy of this band and has quite a unique sound in my opinion.

The ten songs on this album are technical as I mentioned and it’s clearly audible that these guys are no starters. Fortunately they don’t let the technique stand in the way of spontaneity, which is the case with a lot of similar bands, and keep the tempo high in general. The music also contains enough variety, which see to the fact that the songs don’t become boring. My only point of criticism is that the songs are quite similar to each other, by which the album becomes in the danger of becoming tedious. Fortunately their musical skills and strong song writing makes the whole picture worth. Altogether an excellent album that will surely reply to the fans of extreme metal and the technical chaps among us.

Rating: 85/100 (details)

http://www.punish.ch