What a brilliant start into the new metal year. DAMNATION DEFACED from Celle start this turn of publications with Resurection Stillborn – The Blackest Halo and leave a high mark for following bands. The EP starts with a quiet, melancholic intro before the first punch in the face comes. The Grief Of Cold Dead Eyes comes with cool and fast riffs and surprises with a slow part a la Opeth. Altogether one can say that we can find a good mixture of Stockholm and Gothenburg here. Opeth meets At The Gates and Dark Tranquillity garnished with some modern and noisy parts. With Buried In Oblivion the guys send out a “groover” with a really cool solo. Now it’s getting slower and more melancholic again and the band shows their instrumental skills. The obligatory sing along refrain can be found in the mid-tempo song The Blackest Halo. The one who now doesn’t know the name of the band is either deaf or should learn how to pay attention. As soon as the quiet outro of the song plays, one might think that was all, but wide out of mark! In The Absence Of Light starts with an uppercut directly to your chin before it fades into a slower, gooey mass. Maybe this fading is the reason for me to claim this least good song of this EP. Melodic Death Metal should simply be faster. Finally a re-recorded version of the titeltrack from the demo Blade Upon Your Throat comes along as a bonus. However, this EP wakes the longing for more, especially because after ten runs you can still find new things to discover.