Rating: NNNN
It must be tough trying to make a living playing brutal technical death metal to fanatical but sparse audiences night after night and not wanting to throw in the towel and get an I.T. job or something. Maybe that’s why, as one of North America’s death metal forerunners, Florida’s Angel Corpse decided to take a healthy six-year break. And perhaps they got their shit back together when band leader Pete Helmkamp got tired of hearing how other bands in the genre are so awesome or whatever, since he probably knew that his band was way better. Thus, Lightning is an impressive return to form for the band, who’ve refined a unique sound based on technical virtuosity, dense, rhythmic riffing and nasty, thick production. Songs like Hexensabbat and Lustmord solidify their place amongst the genre’s best.
