Hey, you got your crust in my death metal!

The first song on an album is, arguably, the most important. The first song is a statement, something which sets the tone and mood of the rest of the album. It’s the manifesto, an announcement of intent signaling what awaits you in the vast wilderness of the remaining songs. Can you imagine Master of Puppets opening with something other than “Battery”? Or Reign in Blood with something other than “Angel of Death” having that big ol’ number 1 by it? Those songs are possibly the finest on their respective albums and they’re the very first thing you hear.

It’s important to get off on the right foot, and with “Destroy the Infinite” on their new album …And You Will Obey Me the Swedish / Danish collective known as Down Among the Dead Men do just that. They come out of the gate with a massive pit starter of a crossover riff and you can tell that they aren’t fucking around. The guitars weave in and out of death metal before they begin to flirt with their crustier side, eventually caving in and going full on d-beat. The drums hammer away like a robot in a quarry, blasting away like it’s what they were put on this planet to do. Everything eventually slows down to a more OSDM pace, but after a brief bit of sweet, sweet noodling it crusts back up to fly across the finish line in breakneck fashion.

Vocals by the always killer Dave Ingram (Ursinne, Ex-Bolt Thrower) really turn this track into a monster that’s hard to forget once it has hammered your earholes.  It’s a great song, and an even better kickoff to an album chock full of bangers.

Of course, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the absolutely ridiculous (in the best way, of course) art by the legendary Turkka Rantanen. Just look at this!

Turkka is too good for this world.

…And You Will Obey Me drops June 15th via Transcending Obscurity You can preorder the album here and give the band a like on Facebook here.