Zero Degree
Surreal World

I guess it would just be logical for this album by german sextet Zero Degree to receive a rather cool reception considering their name. Surreal world is the title of the album and the song title witness of lyrics in a realm of either that or frozen stuff. The cover art is also pointing in this cold surreal direction, maybe something for you who are inspired by such pictures to fantasise a story around, I know I did. This band is said to have been formed in 2006 and did in 2007 release a demo to critical acclaim or so it is said, in 2010 this album was released by the band themselves and now this debut album is once again released but this time by a label meaning that they get a much better chance to be seen and to be talked about. Massacre is also one of those labels that are really good when it comes to pushing their artists so it is probably a good label to be on.

Musically the press sheet was speaking of the band searching a sound that is a blend between bands like In Flames and Dark Tranquility as well as Iron Maiden, in the vain of Ensiferum and the likes. It is for you who have heard none of these albums or for you who cannot imagine the blend I was writing of earlier a very melodic kind of death metal with rather catchy choruses, not very heavy but founded on a solid melodic foundation with the death metal brutality forced upon it, something like that. Not very cold sounding one can at least say. The singer has the modern death metal growl combined with some more brutal sounding vocals as well and the production is rather clean and modern. The album itself plays for just over fifty minutes that are divided into eleven tracks and during these tracks the variation is alright, not huge but decent.

I think this is a good melodic death metal album, it has a good sense of power and of melody making it an interesting album to enjoy. The quality of the sound on this album is great and much more mature than what you often get from a band that is making their debut album, especially in this genre. I can see only one real weakness and that is the long playing time, it tends to feel slightly long even though the music is interesting enough to keep interest up for a fair amount of time I still think that most album playing around fifty minutes are a bit on the long side and this is no exception to that. Other than that I find this album being a really good one.

There are no weak tracks on this album I think that they all stand for a high standard even though one could have hoped for more songs with a bigger hit character like the track that is called Virus. That track is quite brilliant with this energy, the catchy chorus and the power this track offer makes it one track that stands out from the rest of the album and is a real standout track. So in the end with one hit song and ten good one, a little too long playing time it is a powerful and really good album which clearly is worthy of a rating far away from the cooler regions. A recommended album for anyone who enjoys a good melodic death metal album.