Genre: Death/black metal
Origin: Poland
Released: 2010
Website: Preludium
Label: Diabolical Conquest Records
Uploaded: 25.01.11

The second release by Diabolical Conquest Records, and yet another band I�ve never heard of. The label�s premiere release was a very obscure and unorthodox one, but Preludium�s third album is much more accessible. I�m surprised by the fact that the band�s eluded me, considering what quality metal we�re talking about. It doesn�t take long into Legacy of destinations before the supremely great-sounding death metal hits you.
While I hate to compare acts to their own countrymen (it feels so ignorant sometimes), I can�t help but feel Impending hostility sounds utterly Polish. An instant reminiscent vibe of Behemoth�s blackened death is evident right from the get go, just as I feel a lot of the riffing to remind me of Vader, minus any thrashing touches. There�s no sense of true originality here, but in all honesty a lot of the big names in the scene are just re-hashing their own old ideas with each new album, so originality can be a bit overrated. Preludium keep things interesting with plenty of stops and goes and quick tempo variations, but also by having an overall extremely chunky and overpowering production � the brutality just comes at you.
Taking the opening riff to Bitter cold in mind it sounds typically Polish, just like already established. But with a truly blasting piece like Hostile area, the previous track, there�s also a sense of brutal death metal. I can�t help but think of some slam acts, mainly for the magnificently heavy chugging riffs, with Disavowed, Devourment and such coming to mind. But since everything�s flavoured with black metal it still comes off as somewhat different in sound.
The drumming�s mainly bloody fast, blasting like crazy, but stopping for a whole lot of breaks and tempo changes. Riff-wise it goes from typical European death to black to brutal US death, but it�s all delivered in an extremely chunky manner. It�s fast, it�s chugging, sleek, slick and above all else marvelously powerful. The production�s magnificent, keeping it from becoming too digital, but still with an overwhelming heavy chunkiness. Not too brutal growls, which speaks to the crowd uncomfortable with too gory and brutal death, and with a higher pitched back-up, with an outcome often reminding me of Behemoth. It�s of an extremely high quality, the whole lot of it, which makes me wonder how a small and new label got ahold of such a magnificent act, and afforded to release it. The artwork�s beautiful, but it also makes me wonder why you�d spring for an 8-page booklet but not include any lyrics. But oh well, I suppose it doesn�t matter. I�m convinced this will speak to the bulk of listeners, and with a big enough promotion I�m positive Preludium will become a household name in the future. It�s commercial in the right sense of the word.

Tracklist:
01. Legacy of destinations
02. Realm of void
03. Desolation
04. Hostile area
05. Bitter cold
06. Blessing of war
07. Death campaign
08. Execution
09. Warfare