Reinventing yourself without changing musical styles is not the easiest thing to pull off. And yet, that is exactly what Dutch death metal unit Sisters Of Suffocation has been doing more or less since their first album. Since they aren’t married to a particular era or subgenre of death metal, their albums tend to be surprisingly varied and relatively unpredictable. Their new ‘Eradication’ turns that up to eleven, but also has the most pleasant flow of all their albums released so far. Because of this, its forty-seven minutes of music – usually a bit too long for non-progressive death metal – truly flies by.

For an album that blasts out of the gate with the short, intense ‘Buried In The Crowd’, this might sound a bit strange, but ‘Eradication’ is a surprisingly subtle album. Sisters Of Suffocation’s debut album ‘Anthology Of Curiosities’ was blunt and in your face, while its follow-up ‘Humans Are Broken’ was tight and notably more modern. The latter in particular felt like a good collection of songs, but ‘Eradication’ really feels like an album. Every song flows into the next one quite naturally, but the songwriting is dynamic enough for the album to never get stuck in the same style or tempo for too long.

One thing that has remained since ‘Humans Are Broken’ is the increased number of guitar harmonies and solos. This was a move that elevated Sisters Of Suffocation from promising to good on their second album. In fact, there is even more interesting guitar layering on ‘Eradication’, especially during the more atmospheric moments. While most of the album is fairly intense death metal, some tracks feature guitar arrangements that bring to mind the more atmospheric side of black metal or maybe At The Gates’ earliest work. ‘Being Prey’ even features some melodic guitar work that would not have sounded out of place on a “regular” heavy metal album.

Since ‘Eradication’ is the type of album that is best experienced in one sitting, it is somewhat difficult to pick favorites. ‘Hide In Plain Sight’ certainly is one, however. The modern thrash sound of its main riff is right up my alley and the song effectively toys with time feel to squeeze all the musical opportunities out of its riffs. The more mid-tempo ‘Cannibal Soulmate’ features some of the best riff work on the album. Is it something more brutal and aggressive you crave? ‘Returning In A Cauldron’, ‘The Chosen One’ and the aforementioned ‘Buried In The Crowd’ will certainly satisfy your appetite.

‘Eradication’ is easily the new highlight of Sisters Of Suffocation’s discography. It doesn’t exactly expand upon the more technical direction of ‘Humans Are Broken’, but instead slightly alters the direction to fit the strengths of their new rhythm section. This means that ‘Eradication’ sounds a bit more old school than its predecessor and it is all the better for it. Since it is somewhat more subtle than the previous two albums, it houses a few secrets that will not reach their maximum impact until the fifth or sixth spin, but that is exactly what makes the album so satisfying. ‘Eradication’ will brighten the day of anyone who is disheartened by the contemporary death metal scene.

Recommended tracks: ‘Hid In Plain Sight’, ‘Being Prey’, ‘Cannibal Soulmate’