Review EXTERMINATION ORDER ‘The Siege of Ascalon’ – EP

Inspired by a legion of bolt throwers and packed with Viking muscles, that is what characterizes the sound of the multi-national death metal horde called Extermination Order. Then five-piece powerhouse features musicians from California, Iceland, and Germany. With guitarist Maik Weichert (Heaven Shall Burn) and drummer Matthias Voigt (former Heaven Shall Burn) two guys with strong extreme metal roots are part of this outfit that debuts with an EP entitled ‘The Siege of Ascalon’.

Five songs, that is what this release has to offer and each of them is a crushing death metal anthem. The massive title track kicks off the album and a massive wall of riffs is what one faces. Combined with a good sense for sublime melodies, the opener is kept raw and untamed. With slower und unstoppable pace the song rolls over you with ruthless intensity and hereby puts a spell on you.

The grooving bassline of ‘Cadmean Victory’ is the next chapter and follows the approach of the opener. Frontman John Gahlert screams his soul out and his deep growls provide the album with the needed aggressiveness.

‘An Iron Shroud’ is the next milestone and is the third song beyond the five-minute mark. It shows that Extermination Order has a lot of song writing capabilities since none of these tracks entails a single moment of boredom. In contrary. One is captivated by the density of sound that the quintet offers throughout.

With ‘Anon We Fall ‘ and ‘Siege of Power’, two more songs made it on this release. Although being a bit shorter than the starting triple both songs come with the same intensity. Extermination Order boil down things to the essence, especially with the brutal closer ‘Siege of Power’. The closer doesn’t take any prisoners and hits you like a freight train with full speed.

‘The Siege of Ascalon’ belongs to this year’s metal highlights. Rarely we got offered such a brutal and still thought-through death metal release. With every note and each of the riffs you can hear that this release is a matter of heart instead of being just ‘a next album’ that needs to be released. Horns up.