UMUR
"Dominion Reptilian" is the debut full-length studio album by Swedish death metal act Hearse. The album was released through Hammerheart Records in March 2003. Hearse feature among others former Furbowl, and maybe more notably, former Arch Enemy vocalist Johan Liiva.
The music on the album is melodic death metal with both traditional heavy metal (loads of galloping rythms) and death´n´roll elements. The tracks are vers/chorus structured, catchy, very melodic and easy to follow. Guitar harmonies play an important role on the album, but it´s the great imidiate attitude, raw sound production and strong musicianship that define the album. Johan Liiva has a distinct semi-growling vocal delivery that may be slightly one-dimensional, but no less effective because of that. Those familiar with his vocal style from his earlier bands won´t be surprised by how he sounds here. Actually the music on "Dominion Reptilian" features quite a few elements that remind me of both Furbowl and Arch Enemy. The death´n´roll nature of the former and the melodic death metal nature of the latter combined could be a valid description of how Hearse sound on "Dominion Reptilian". Most tracks are similar in style but "Cosmic Daughter" stands out a bit from the rest and provides some compositional variation.
"Dominion Reptilian" is a great debut release by Hearse. It´s the kind of album where you can really feel that the band have put their heart and soul into writing and recording it. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.