CoC : Sins of Omission - The Creation : Review

Sins of Omission - _The Creation_
(Black Sun, 1999)
by: David Rocher (9.5 out of 10)

With a skin-bashing department very efficiently filled by Dennis Ekdahl of Raise Hell, this Swedish act have actually succeeded in offering a rather new expression of death metal, and display great talent and knowledge in fusing the sounds of the now notorious "Gothenburg death metal" style with more intricate, heavy and thrashing sounds, that would in fact remind me of an aggressive mutation of twin guitar assaults a la Judas Priest merged with faster, more aggressive measures of extremist contemporary musical dirges. The very melodic guitar play from Tony Kocmut and Martin Persson always remains heavy enough to grace _The Creation_ with power and catchiness that the names At the Gates or Dark Tranquillity are not unfamiliar with; needless to say, Dennis Ekdahl's very talented pounding rhythms are murderously energetic, and varied enough to always perfectly create a flawless backbone for the syncopated, almost rivalling axe attacks. Demonstrating much energy, creativity and a taste for sharply controlled chaos, _The Creation_ hulls metal that can musically trickle through a euphonious, mid-paced melody, before brutally swelling into a raging, violent death metal surge, which in turn carries the song through to a bouncy speed metal-like section, or may as well merely let it fade into another laid back twin guitar part. The swift strings are always fantastically imaginative and inspired, and the frequently diverging guitar lines often collide, to great effect, with the massively heavy bass and drums. Clear vocal lines (duelling, of course) are used very sparingly, and thus avoid becoming a mere reflex movement whose facility increasingly many bands now succumb to. Considering the fact that the Sins had no vocalist at the time of the Fredman recording sessions, Tony Kocmut did a very convincing job at this post; better news still, with the adjunction to their formation of rabid screamer Marten Hanssen, of the late A Canorous Quintet, Sins of Omission's music is most likely going to be granted an extra serving of aggressiveness -- which it by no means lacks! These heavy, thrashing, melodic deathsters are certainly destined to become a force to be reckoned with, and many bands hoping to play in their league are going to have a hard time keeping their musical standards this high.

(article published 19/5/1999)