The Russian outfit Grace Disgraced impress again. Their debut from last year, 'Enthrallment Traced', was a surprisingly mature album and warmed the heart of this old Death fan.

For latter-day Death was a very, very obvious inspiration for the four-piece on the debut. This has not changed. Complex and highly technical riffing is on the agenda, as is tons of breaks and time shifts. For those of you who know me and my taste, you know that there's a limit to the complexity I can endure, so this means that the chaos comes in doses with this band when I say that I like it. The thing with Grace Disgraced is that they have taken Death's brutality one notch further and that, for me at least, gives the album a red thread. Front woman Polina's voice is one of the brutal constants of the album; that woman really has an impressive set of pipes.

Soundwise, 'The Primal Cause; Womanumental' isn't overproduced and has a live feeling, actually, again, much like Death did in the nineties. All three instruments and Polina's voice stand out clearly in the mix. Nice.

One step further towards world fame for Grace Disgraced. Dog's bollocks, this one!