I knew that someday it would happen and my curiosity would be the end of me. I flung open the door without even bothering to peek through the keyhole. And from the unknown, THIS thing called "Lifestream Corrosion" crashed down upon me.
This is the first full-length album from the Finns (they have several demos and an MCD behind them). And getting ahead of myself, I can say this is a very mature work (especially for a debut). But let's start from the beginning.
The disc was released in two versions: a standard CD and a digipak. I'm reviewing the latter. The album is a pleasure to simply hold in your hands: excellent printing and design. The digipak comes with a beautiful booklet and a special bonus — an alternate version of the first track "Xanadu," which is a techno-industrial remix (something similar was done by CREMATORY on the compilation "Early Years").
Overall, you could try to squeeze the entire album into the slippery definition of Atm/Black/Death, but that would be somewhat imprecise — you understand that all such labels are rather arbitrary. Across the disc, you will encounter high-speed black metal as the main musical component, elements of death metal, gentle keyboard touches and the dark atmosphere they create, traditional black metal shrieking and brutal growling, memorable riffs, and unexpected twists. The album was recorded, mixed, and mastered in different studios, but ultimately the sound came out excellent.
The material is fresh, dynamic, varied, and dark.