Come The Light are a trio of young Black Country musicians that have emerged from the now defunct Skullfox.

Fronted by the dark brooding presence of Jamie Fowles, and backed up by the drum and bass combo of Matty Fowles and Inky Bate, CTL have produced a mini album of complex songs that draw influences from a wide range of styles and genres.

Opener, “All Kinds Of Chaos” may give you the immediate impression of yet another melodic Grindcore outfit being churned out from the dark satanic mills of this neck of the woods, but they are much more than that.

“Reside in Shadow” has riffs that hint at many hours listening to Tool, whilst the shadow of the mighty Sabbath looms large over much of the album.

Jamie’s buzz saw riffs cut through any pretentiousness, whilst the other Fowles can hit the skins as good as any drummer I’ve seen for a while. Bate on bass is almost metronomical in his rhythms, keeping some sort of order to what could easily degenerate into chaos.

Overall this is a grimy, sludgy album, but with enough variation and style to appeal to a wide cross section of metal fans, my particular favourite is “Mirror”, a faster paced track than most, more thrashier with some interesting breakdowns and tempo changes. Production is not bad for a self released effort, and the mix is adequate.

From darkness comes light? You betcha it does.

8 out of 10

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