Metal Underground.com

When you name your album "Relentless," the tunes on it had better live up to the hype. It's to Brother Von Doom's credit that the album mostly lives up to the title's promise, minus some quibbles with the vocals.

The first thing any listener will note is that it's obvious a lot of care went into making this album sound as good as possible, regardless of what it's being played on. I've played it on everything from cheap headphones to a great home stereo system, and it always sounds spectacular. The production is crisp and clear, with the guitars and drums mixed perfectly. The bass is a bit buried, but still audible.

The playing on this album is uniformly great, but drummer Matt Thomas puts in a performance that has to be heard to be believed. On tracks like "Eater Of Days" and "Echoes Of The Undead," Thomas does more than just provide rhythms — often his drumming seems to also be the prime melodic force in the songs.

That's definitely not a slight on guitarists Brian Baxter and Tate Matthews, who put in performances that, in addition to their speed and virtuosity, show a well-developed sense of melody. I particularly enjoyed the interplay between the solos and rhythm guitar parts, in that the rhythm parts didn't completely fade into the background. There are some spectacular instrumental breaks in nearly every song.

Unfortunately, that sense of melody gets a bit lost when it comes to the vocals. Justin Wilson's death metal growls and screams often seem to run contrary to what the rest of the band is doing, particularly in the slower, more melodic parts of "Eater of Days" and "A Beautiful Masquerade." That said, the breakneck-speed "Ravenous" features a near-perfect blend of Wilson and the rest of the band.

Vocal missteps aside, in "Relentless," Brother Von Doom has created an album that shows off their impressive instrumental chops. Here's hoping they figure out a way to better blend the vocals in next time.