French death metal band Nihilism founded in 2009. They released their first six track demo EP Twelve Thousand in 2011. A few years later, in 2014, the split LP Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed with Dehumanize was released. In 2016 Nihilism released its debut album Beyond Redemption.

Opening track Ocean’s War immediately sets the tone for the rest of the album: decent old school technical death metal with  tight catchy riffs, and of course the obligatory grunt vocals and blast beats. The songs are well executed, but not very innovative. But hey, that’s the case with most similar bands. Not all music is supposed to be groundbreaking.

Aρχη is different than the rest of the songs. It’s a short and beautiful acoustic interlude, a welcome break from all  the heavier stuff. The Old Tree Died also stands out. It has more of a thrash metal and heavy metal feel than the other songs. The clean vocals are different too. The singer proves here that he is capable of more than just grunts.

Beyond Redemption is a good debut album, filled with decent but not very original death metal songs. It’s definitely a nice addition to your music collection.

Release date: October 28th, 2016
Label: Overpowered Records
Tracklist:
1. Ocean’s War
2. Beyond Redemption
3. The Hanging Tree
4. The Rebellion
5. Aρχη
6. Blackfish
7. The Old Tree Died
8. All Will Be One
9. Inner Deamon
10. Alea Jacta Est
11. The Blood Poured