Much has been made of Andy Sneap's involvement in the production and engineering of this record, and while I have been a fan of Sneap's work on previous Machine Head and Testament records, on this occasion he unfortunately fails to harness the merciless impact of the Stampin' Ground on-stage act, and as a result a very competent album fails slightly to attain its true potential. Suffering particularly in this respect is vocalist Adam Frakes-Sime, who sounds like a pit-bull on PCP when he hits the stage, but on _A New Darkness Upon Us_ comes across as comparatively tame. Similarly drummer Neil Hutton's phenomenal prowess is let down by a production job that is simply too slick for its own good, softening specifically the head-splitting thud of his razor-sharp double-bass work.

Criticisms aside however, this is hands-down the best effort Stampin' Ground have delivered to date. Tracks like "Dead From the Neck Up" or the blistering "Pain Is Weakness" combine the Ground's influences of old-school thrash and hardcore to ferocious effect. Successfully avoiding monotony, the odd melodic surprise even creeps into the fray, with a particularly satisfied nod heading in the direction of "Behind the Light" -- a tune laced with enough vitriolic rage to make any so-called post-hardcore pretender scamper for the nearest pair of available adult undergarments.

So ultimately, despite its shortcomings _A New Darkness Upon Us_ is a good record, and if anything, certainly proof enough that should Stampin' Ground find a way to capture their crushing stage presence in the studio, we could very well have a band of Slayer-like majesty on our hands.