SZRON, Death Camp Earth (2012, Under the Sign of Garazel Productions)

The skull:
Swear we’ve seen this before. But that’s probably skull fatigue talking. And really, after you’ve recently studied skulls smoking cigarettes while wearing headphones; skulls wearing ridiculous Egyptian headdresses drawn in black crayon by children; and skulls hatching human heads that are puking black blood…well, this skull is bound to lack impact. A less jaded skull aficionado would surely find this skull fearsome, its sight partially obscured by barbed wire wrap and a common runic character stamped onto its forehead, but after those other recent beauties this is like a trip to the frozen yogurt shop on the corner, where the spicy mango flavor pales next to the banana garlic, seaweed bacon and bubblegum catsup ones.

The music:
At times these Polish black metallers favor the wide-expanse, hugely majestic, all-six-strings kinds of chords that remind of those great early Borknagar records. When they’re not going all epic, though, it’s extremely orthodox modern black metal – seething in the right spots, vocals vile enough to fit the bill, shades of darkness black enough to conjure melancholy ‘n’ might…and boring as hell. I doubt any but the most insatiable black metal gourmand needs to sit down and dig in. Long songs, too: four of them in nearly 40 minutes. Please note that Metal Archives says this band’s lyrical topics touch upon “Anti-Humanity, Anti-Christianity, Death, Evil.” Fresh new ground for a black metal band, basically.
— Friar Wagner