German extreme metal outfit
Neaera's fourth album continues to mine the trigger-happy riffing and full-throated caterwauls of the Scandinavian death metal scene. Taking cues from European black metal heavyweights like
Dismember and
At the Gates,
Omnicide: Creation Unleashed leaves no eighth note behind, unleashing a ferocious aural assault that is as relentless as it is meticulous. Front-loaded with two of the best tracks the band has ever wrangled into submission ("I Loath" and "Prey to Anguish"),
Omnicide descends into white noise in its latter half, trading melody for brutality without a shadow of subtlety. Extreme metal purists will rejoice at the sheer violence of it all, but listeners who like a little melody with their bloodshed will have trouble following the road (and the constant barrage of gunfire that lines it) to its bitter end.