Thirteen years and numerous releases later, and nothing has changed: Nominon still offer a fast-paced, ancient-sounding metal of death, cliché-ridden yet tight. In addition, the lyrical content is horrendously childish, adhering to the last of the Neanderthals of the '80s, where themes about zombies, cannibalism and misogyny reigned supreme, coupled with rather blunt, blatant, literal and unimaginative texts lacking nuances and having neither subtexts nor metaphors whatsoever; and these guys are what? Forty years old, give or take a couple of years? Come the fuck on!

The zombified cover art, although done well, screams with been-there-done-that metal clichés done a million times in the past. Covers such as these do not have any shock value whatsoever; at best, they are laughable, as are the texts. One last thought in that regard: are you aiming for teenagers? Aren't grown-ups entitled to enjoy a solid death metal album?

In the end, there's nothing much in terms of novelty offered by Nominon on their latest effort; it's more of the same, and the same has never impressed me, to say the least.

Aficionados of ancient, straightforward, middle of the road, typical death metal of the Nordic and nostalgic style will probably enjoy _The Cleansing_; it will indeed supply the purists and close-minded fans with something to bang their heads upon. As for myself, I'm too busy listening to better outputs accumulating on my desk than to waste any more time on this one. Next!