Scars of Time, the first album from Norway's Deride, doesn't sound much like its Scandinavian metal predecessors -- save, perhaps,
Entombed, whom they resemble in tonal density, and Meshuggah, whom they resemble during the more experimental, precise moments. In other words, this is not Bathory. More often than not, Deride aspires to the stomp-core of American bands like Machinehead, Biohazard, Pantera, and Crowbar. However,
Scars of Time does have its share of soaring heights; not quite as operatic as an Emperor, they are melodic nonetheless. This is heavyweight stuff, but the hammering insistence can grow tiresome. To borrow from a cooking expression, there are only so many ways to boil water. ~ Patrick Kennedy