Fleshgod Apocalypse - Mafia (2010)^{Release ID: 7907}

This really could have been a pretty decent brutal death metal E.P. with heavy emphasis on technicality & blast beats. The production is excellent & the musicianship is good. The death vocals are great & remind me of Johann Larssen (Seance) quite a lot at times. There are a couple of things that prevent this from living up to its potential though. Firstly, the neo-classical parts (clean vocals & guitar leads) are not to my taste at all & sound quite chessy to me. Secondly, they've overdone the blasting drums a bit & the tracks tend to blend together due to this. I think the overly clicky drum sound contributes to this. The At The Gates cover of "Blinded By Fear" (my favourite ATG track) is not in the same league as the original & the addition of blast beats doesn't do it any favours. The piano outro piece "Mafia" doesn't really serve any purpose in my opinion either. I'm afraid I can't quite look past the flaws.