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The entity known as Shadow Puncher has really been busy in the last 2 years.\u00a0 Hailing from Norway, the \u2018band\u2019 is a one-man project, headed up by Max Kevin \u00d8lst\u00f8ren.\u00a0 I reviewed their debut self-titled album almost a year ago for another publication, and I was pretty critical of it.\u00a0 What will we find this time around?<\/span><\/p>\n \n Opening track \u201cInterlude\u201d features a super cool, but slightly deceptive dream pop\/shoegaze sound.\u00a0 It almost made me think I had the wrong artist on!\u00a0 Nonetheless, SP now have my attention.\u00a0 Next up is the title track.\u00a0 Contrary to the fairly one-dimensional thrash\/death we heard on the debut, this track features heavy djenty, layered sounds with death metal growls and squeals.\u00a0 Already, this is very different from the self-titled debut.\u00a0 It\u2019s heavier and more diverse.<\/span><\/p>\n \n \u201cWisdom\u201d showcases a clean guitar intro and an almost soulful singing\u2014really cool stuff\u2014and then kicks into some screaming, all the while managing to maintain that driving rock\/clean sound with some layered death metal growling over the top.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever heard a track quite like this.\u00a0 \u201cUnderstanding\u201d features another super-heavy riff, with some blastbeats (drum machine) over the top, then a crunchy, heavy riff with death metal growls.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n This album is equal parts djent and death metal\u2014sometimes both in the same song, and at other times it\u2019s juxtaposed in trade-offs.\u00a0 I admit I was pretty critical of their debut, but 777<\/span> is leaps and bounds ahead of Shadow Puncher<\/span>.\u00a0 While I still prefer live drums and a full band, sole member Max Kevin \u00d8lst\u00f8ren has really gotten creative in the studio this time with much better results. (indie) 4 out of 5 stars<\/span><\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The entity known as Shadow Puncher has really been busy in the last 2 years.\u00a0…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":477,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1020],"tags":[38,382,384,383,381],"class_list":["post-2829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-review","tag-death-metal","tag-djent","tag-norway-d31","tag-prayer-d87","tag-shadow-puncher"],"yoast_head":"\n