“Strength Through Vengeance� is a flashback to pre-Black Album Metallica and Pantera suffused with hardcore rhythm and classic metal guitar. There’s some sludge floating around in there, too. They bear resemblance to Merauder, and shreds of Swedish metal strain and Iron Maiden peek out as well.

Drummer Yan Chausse displays a respectable array of technical aptitude including double-bass speed drumming skills a la Slayer, whose influence on this band is undeniable. According to their Victory Records bio the band used 25 separate mics to record the drums alone. They were aiming for the most natural sound possible. And it sounds like it was worth the effort.

It’s interesting when vocalist Kevin Randel sometimes debarks from his Phil Anselmo train of style mid-rasp and starts wailing a la 80’s power metal. There’s no escape, Randel really sounds like Phil Anselmo except he possesses a very original actual singing voice. But it fits. The music is an apt vehicle for the lyrics – each song is a verbal depiction of relentless fury.

This disc definitely deserves respect. It’s a good soundtrack for someone who needs to take strength from music and rise from any muck they’re in. A Perfect Murder have an endearing manner of taking the best of metal and hardcore and infusing it into their own malignant sonic embryo. What they have now is pretty damn good, but I say embryo because this band has a lot of latent talent. Combined with all these notable influences, their sound will undoubtedly evolve even further.