Unfortunately, this attention to craft and detail is struck by a frequent happenstance of underground soloists -- fairly stunted by production, with Valaetis and Bob Moore (Nile) working to give _Misanthropic Annihilation_ a sound, less sanguine perhaps, but near to Sunlight Studios. A warmly padded sound, favorable to the melodic edge of most tracks. Most noticeably, there's a fallout between the drums and guitars, the latter either dangling in hollow space with little back up at all or the former sounding mechanically inserted ("Unholy Trinity"), deadening the momentum carried by the strings. Even though such textures complement tracks rooted in that early Scandinavian vibe (the Hypocrisy tinged "Thy Will Be Done"), its monotonous push could turn off some listeners.

Not radically different from previous material, this album treads the nervous borders of doom with technical strength and incisive melody, as if translating nocturnes through the electric void. A unique combination worth bearing some missteps for.