THIS ENDING -

THIS ENDING - INSIDE THE MACHINE - METAL BLADE  
This is just the beginning for this Swedish band and surely an impressive one. Inside The Machine could easily belong to a band on its third, fourth or fifth outing and in a way it does given how This Ending is the continuation of A Canorous Quintet. The group is Swedish and death metal and, it seems like, the label wants to push the 'melodic' tag upon the group, which can easily be misleading. While there is plenty of melodic moments on the album this is not a Dark Tranquility or In Flames wanna-be. Not that bands of that ilk were, are or will ever be death metal but one needs to clarify any mislabeling before things get out of hand. This Ending is more of a Grave/Necrophonic type band with very strong lead guitars and melodies. The strongest comparison, however, would be to Amon Amarth, which is unsurprising for the bands share drummer Fredrik Andersson. The growls are convincing and the distortion jittery and heavy. The drumming completes the band’s full sound and takes full advantage of the heavy sound. This Ending is hardly original, but has enough speed, heaviness and lovely lead explosions to put it ahead of the pack. - Anna Tergel