Metal Underground.com

Corporation 187 is the latest in a long line of melodic death metal bands from Sweden. Although the band has been around since 1995, "Newcomers of Sin" is only their third album. Corporation 187 cites their thrash roots as the key to their sound, and while there are certainly thrash influences apparent on "Newcomers of Sin," this release won't break any boundaries.

The album starts off positively with "Provoking the Prophet" - a rich, thick riff, powerful machine gun kick drums, then tense, high, almost hard-core style vocals, then moves on to the break, with a nice soaring melodic guitar line overlaying the low end. Next up is the title track - but wait, is that the same riff? "My Sickness" mixes things up a bit, and then "Question the Light" ups the speed... but overall, as the album continues on each track is barely distinguishable from the last. A brief ray of hope lies in the second last track, "In the New Messiah", with an acoustic intro and some interesting time signature changes, but then the album closer "Virus Nation" takes us right back to the beginning again. Consistency is not a positive here.

There is no doubt that Corporation 187 can play the hell out of their instruments. The song-writing is very proficient and the album is well-produced. In fact, it would be the perfect release if it weren't so bloody monotonous.