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In 2006 producer Sami Jämsén took a break from studio work and founded Survivors Zero. After working on the music for quite awhile he hooked up with Tommi 'Rotten' Virranta (ex-Deathchain) and soon they completed the line-up. In 2008 they did a demo called Extinction. Afterwards the band had to survive some line-up changes and late in 2008 they inked a deal with Cobra Records. Now they present their debut album called CMXCIX (= 999).
The opener is Embrace The Inferno which was also on their demo, a mean death metal track with tempi changes and varying vocals - Virrantan offers everything from deep raspy clean vocals to grunts. The guitarists add some heavy riffs, but lead guitarist Jani Luttinen also adds some melodic parts. Quite melodic they kick off Armageddon Cult, but then storm off. A brutal death metal track they present, but no blast attacks been offered. Survivors Zero offer fast tunes, but easy off a bit and add some mid-paced parts. They combine the heavy riffs with melodic elements without losing the brutal sound, even if some passages are quite catchy. In their songs you also find some reminiscences to thrash metal, but they aren't another death'n'thrash outfit! At Thorns Of Rapture Jani Luttinen shows his skills once more and so this heavy tune with brutal growls gets a melodic edge. With Fortress Of Lies they present the 2nd track of their demo and even if their songwriting scheme shows up again, they manage to keep the listeners interest. Towards the end they can't surprise the listener, but it's not like the songs are less good then the first ones! It's just that I miss something new...
I can recommend Survivors Zero to everybody who likes brutal death metal with melodies, but is tired of sweet melodies which take away all the heaviness. A decent debut of some experienced Finnish musicians. Check it out!
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