Diocletian - Gesundrian (2014)

   Some used to say that third albums are often determining in the life of a band. They could serve as a turning points because the band's style gets fully developed, or a turning point because their style is about to go through some changes. In war metal, when diversity or change is not an option partly because of the strict rules of the subgenre, and partly because it's simply not an expectation, this rule might seem irrelevant. But in truth this style is no exception either.
   Diocletian's third full-length album became slightly different from what previously have been heard from the band. The chaotic atmosphere and noise based sound turned a bit more clear, and at this point it's important to note, that it's still pretty far from sterile sound in general, the sound and song compositions became more clear compared to the previous albums. Insane intensity has still absolute dominance, and their music is as devastating as always, but from this slightly different perspective, the main tools of the devastation (the intense hammering, the themes and the vocal style) are more revealed, as the chaotic noise having reduced role. In this form the core basics of Diocletian's music are getting revealed as well, and the analogy with older classics (such as Abominator) is more evident. This slight change had advantageous effect by giving an extra enjoyable factor to another masterpiece of musickness by Diocletian.

Diocletian - Doom Cult (2009)

   Even though war metal is definitley not a style that offers many possibilities, Diocletian's debut gave a new obscure shade to this style of black/death musickness.
   Their massive brutal approach was quite effective and suspects a longer musical past. If there's a really good recipe for the most suitable sound of the intense, merciless hammering of war metal, they certainly own it. "Doom Cult" doesn't sound like a noisy demo, but it's also quite far from clear sound. Yet it's not too atmospheric and doesn't soften the effectiveness of the themes. The cold, unfriendly netherworldic touch is definitely strong, but the fast, brutal themes are like desiring continously to rip the listeners face off. The simple but catchy and fast themes turning into atmospheric noise, than to a chaotic brutal mass. Slow downs are frequently scheduled, and sometimes they're more extended to create an intense down-pulling effect. All of these seem well composed to fit together and giving a very exaggerated impression that's quite obscure and intense the same time. The themes sounding well tried, and changing enough often to not become monotonous. The number of black/death bands increased from the late '00s, but similar masterpieces are not easy to find. Diocletian just set the standards quite high by their show up. 

Dawn of Azazel - The Law of the Strong (2004)

   A modern and genuine perspective of death metal was introduced by the debut of Dawn of Azazel, that didn't fit to the long line of brutal and technical death albums of the '00s.
   The raw aggressiveness of "The Law of the Strong" reminded to the late came brutal death bands, but they liked to experiment with themes without becoming technical. It wasn't only about brutality or chaotic and sudden changes for effectiveness, it was the introduction of chaos and disharmony itself. The band tried to do this in various ways, so the album might be able to show something new after more listenings too. Modern and old school themes and song structures exchanging each other, seems like randomly, but the songs are well composed. The vocal style and the heavy sound reminds to Necroticism by Carcass, and the endlessly insane main impression refers back to that classic too somehow, even though the band operated with a different musical toolbar. The album could have plenty of surprises for the listener by it's exaggerated sound, but it's intensity and very aggressive tone is the most remarkable.