### Banished From Inferno: Minotaur

#### 06/01/12 || Smalley

The first thing that hits you about “Minotaur” is how strong the guitar sound is; a lot of these Stub-bands fuck that up in some way, but the sound here would fit in on any big-budget metal record. Besides that, Banished From Inferno’s debut full-length is heavy, catchy, energetic, straightforward death metal with non-generic growling, pretty good (not great) percussion, and just enough writing variation to keep things compelling, without too much as to start seeming random. Plus, I hear some Entombed/Dismember influences crossed with thrashy shit here as well, which are generally good things. And they are, at least, on here. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t some brilliant record that will reinvent the DM wheel, but for a debut (especially a label-sent debut), “Minotaur” is practically a miracle in terms of satisfaction.

8/10: Keep it up, guys!!!