Review of Police State by Esoteric Doctrine

1. Police State

2. Shadows Of A Great War

3. Eyes

4. Control

5. Infinite Empire

6. Remembered For 1000 Years

7. Universal Persistent Warfare

8. Extinction

9. Operation Disinfection

Fast, melodic, brutal, and powerful. Three piece hybrid heavy metal from Orillia Ontario, Canada. Esoteric Doctrine formed July 1st 2007 in their hometown Orillia. Released debut EP "Aerial Endings" June 25th 2009. Full length album "Police State" available May 1st 2012.

The technical riff in the title track blows my mind and just by hearing the first song it sounds like Max’s vocals have developed since the last album. The breakdown with the chant leading into the main riff is very heavy and I’d say it is one of my favourite songs off the album. The second song, Shadows of a Great War starts off epically with intro being quite and then coming in. This song has a good mixture of ear pounding riffs but also has a little groovy bit and the echo effect at the end makes it very eerie. I will always remember this song by the happenings at Cobourg Open Air, senior citizen death metal! Eyes is an ear bleeder with its fast riffs and drumming, pure headbanger all the way through, and the solo in this song is nice and short, getting straight to the point. The next song Control’s intro riff is very catchy having hearing it every day on Max’s vlogs. I really like the chugging with the double kicks to go along with it, this song has a groove to it that can’t be duplicated. Infinite Empire is short simple and straight to the point, really like Shawn Arends little bass bit. Remembered For 1000 Years is another short brutal track and Max’s screams in it are very gruelling. The solo in this song shows off Max’s skill although no solo of his will ever show off his skill quite like Classified Leadership off his previous album. The breakdown after is really awesome and the crash cymbal at the end is a great way to end the song, sounds better live though. I don’t know why but the speed of Universal Persistent Warfare and the vocals at the beginning make me feel as if this is a thrash song, then there’s a break with another great bass line, and then the heaviness kicks in, this is probably the best song on the album for bass. Extinction is another one of those groovy tracks, with the way it’s laid out. The riffs in this song along with the vocals make it really catchy and to me, it feels like an 80s hair metal band stuck in a death metal’s band but its very amazing. The last on the album, Operation Disinfection, is slower than most tracks on this album, but it still has a heavy feel to it, I think it was a really good way to end the album.

If you like death metal like Cannibal Corpse, then you should definitely pick this album up. Max Kane has put a lot of energy behind this album and  you should buy this album and help support local metal.

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