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Track Listing: From The Depths Thou Art The Flame Shores Of The Damned Days Of Infernal Insanity Spirits Of The Dark Waters Outro Infinite Twilight Dawn Of The Blackest Sun Writhe In Vengeance For Those Who Died... Desolation And War Ancient Gods Of Battles Past ourney's End

Formed in Austin Texas in 2003, Demontuary have quickly made a name for themselves. Their debut album, "Of the Fallen Years", is a glimpse into the murky world of underground black metal.

The album begins with the track "From the Depths", with an interesting, albeit typical synth intro, which transcends into more standard black metal riffing with some subtle nuances and drumming that doesn't quite fit, but manages to sound great with the music. There's a bit of synth in the middle of the song with a bit of clean picking, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it sounds a bit phoned in; like something was needed to fill a small void. In any case, it makes for a very interesting song.

What I find odd about Demontuary is the fact that they can go in and out of genres in a matter of seconds, as is proven with the track "Thou Art the Flame", which begins with guttural black metal shouting, followed by riffs that sound like they belong on a melo-death album. The solos on this track don't seem to make a lick of sense either; speaking in terms of genre, of course.

Other tracks on this album, however, scream pure black metal. Tracks like "Shores of the Damned", "Writhe in Vengeance", and "Ancient Gods of Battles Past" all have killer black metal riffs, but the rest of the album doesn't seem to stack up. The good thing about this album is that not all of it is angry and depressing black metal. There's actually some very uplifting music on this album, tracks like "For Those Who DiedÉ", and "Journey's End" are actually some of the nicest songs I've ever heard on a black metal album.

All in all, "Of the Fallen Years" is definitely an album worth checking out. If you're a black metal purist, this probably won't be the album for you, but if you have an open mind, and enjoy killer music, this album is most definitely for you.