Victims of Contagion are a death metal band from the US and this is their debut album.

Victims of Contagion play death metal that mixes brutality with technicality, resulting in songs that aren’t overly technical just for the sake of it. Instead, the technicality is used to forge tracks that place the song at the heart of what the band do.

Elements of both the new-school, modern approach to technical death metal can be heard, as well as the old-school, classic style. It’s an interesting, endearing, and lesser-done approach, and Victims of Contagion pull it off nicely.

Amidst the brutality there’s more texture and nuance than you might expect spread across these 38 minutes. Moments of surprising atmospheric depth are sometimes found, as well as aspects of the progressive style that enhance sections here and there. Occasionally there’s a blackened sheen to some of the riffs, especially when things speed up, and dark melodies and scathing screams tear out of the music.

The level of musicianship is high, as you’d probably expect. As stated above though, this is mostly kept in check so it doesn’t overwhelm. That said, there’s still plenty of technical wizardry to satisfy, as well as guest solos from members of The Faceless and First Fragment.

Overall this is a very strong album. Well-written and with plenty of substance to it, the material on this album has longevity built-in.

Very highly recommended.