Torment of Souls
Beneath a Dark Mind

August 2007
Released: 2007, Self-released
Rating: 3.0/5
Reviewer: Luxi Lahtinen

Old school Death Metal from Germany. Usually when the word ´old school Death Metal´ is mentioned along with some certain band, it raises my eye-brows up as a sign of excitement. I mean, if old school Death Metal refers to bands like Pestilence, Asphyx, Nihilist, Dismember, Death, Autopsy, Morgoth and the likes that all have ´that something´ in their sounds that make you almost automatically to bow towards the direction of ´the gods of Death Metal´.



Torment of Souls have already released 2 self-financed albums prior to BENEATH A DARK MIND (OUT OF DARKNESS in 1997 and THE WICKED PATH… in 2002), so the band should obviously have some studio experience behind them - how to take advantage of it with each new release they put out.



This is partly true, yes. The production is thoroughly on a decent level on BENEATH…, but I simply have to wonder quite a bit with three guitarists in the line-up, more heaviness could have been expected from the production´s side. Sadly, the (3) guitars´ immediate punch is missing from the album, and therefore making the album to sound less heavy and impressive than one might expect from the overall production of the album. Also, the snare drums´ sound is kinda fucked up, I think. Happily the music appears to be pretty cool all around. Somehow Torment of Souls remind me of another German Death Metal troops quite a bit here and there; I mean a band called Philosopher and especially their demo WHAT DWELLS BEYOND from 2004 while not being as Death-inspired as their fellow country mates. The band´s vocalist Jochen deserves a special mention for his death grunts that are dark and evil - having at least a thing or two in common with Ross Dolan´s (Immolation) strong vocal delivery. The absolutely standout tracks are a mid-paced and corpse-heavy “Meine Gier dein Tod”, geniusly-built “Satan Calls” and a bit ´Slayer-ish´ “The Urge”.



BENEATH A DARK MIND doesn´t show anything new under the sky, but is still a pretty solid old school Death Metal album nonetheless that should appeal most fans of the genre for sure.