Living Sacrifice have evolved from their previous effort to create what is possibly one of the most challenging and heaviest metalcore albums ever put out to date. Filled with frenzied percussion, chugging guitars and utterly ferocious vocals, this release is a welcome audio menace that has enough intensity to utterly decimate the listener with a multiple pronged assault of anger, emotion and torment.

With a voice that sounds like someone is grating his vocal chords with sandpaper, band front man Bruce conveys his feelings with such strong conviction and power, that he literally makes the bulk of today's new metal crop sound like choir boys. As if he alone wasn't enough, vocal contributions also come from the groups bassist, guitarist and percussionist in what winds up being a strong chant like wall of vehemence that is given depth by an occasional burst of disturbingly calm emotional melody that showcases both extremes of the emotional spectrum in vivid detail. Instrument wise, the group use two guitarists and both a drummer and percussionist and to create grooves along with the bassist that are nothing short of earth splitting. The grooves sculpted through the use of extra percussion are almost cavernous, though rather than an all out pummeling, there is close attention paid to restraint, which makes for massive thundering quakes that possess enough subtlety and grace to teach drum junkies like Slipknot and Soulfly an informative lesson.

Using constantly shifting song structures similar in theory to Mudvayne, the tracks rarely become boring and perhaps the only time they show any breathing room are in the handful of guitar solos included, which are also a surprisingly welcome addition after having been absent from the genre for quite some time. This in turn may also be what keeps more conservative metal fans away though, as the structures tend to swirl and convulse so fast that they could jar even the most firmly set foundations. In the end, this album is ten tracks of pure metalcore bliss that any fan of Slipknot, Soulfly, Hatebreed and countless other acts who bring straight up grinding metal and in your face percussion, should never be without. It also serves as a warning of things to come, because if this is just the hammering process, then the finished product these boys put out as their next effort will undoubtedly be something that will tear the metalcore scene limb from limb.