It's hard not to like or at least appreciate a band like Virginia's ARSIS - ruthlessly heavy with exceptional technical prowess, yet fully aware of the value of distinct riffing and gripping melody, it's obvious that this band has done their homework. Evolving modern Death Metal to the next level while maintaining the integrity established by godfather bands such as MORBID ANGEL that perfected the style is a hard road to walk, enduring intense scrutiny from the most brutally honest and expectant fan set in any genre of music, and yet ARSIS walk defiantly onward with heads held high and confidence in their hearts. As well they should, for in the end the music must speak for itself, and the music of ARSIS screams furious sincerity.

"We Are The Nightmare" is the band's third official full length release, following hot on the heels of one of the most extensive, unrelenting and grueling touring schedules of any band in the scene, and it comes bearing several high octane, full throttle Death Metal morsels that not only further cement the band's relevance but will also strongly reinforce what is already one of modern Death Metal's most dominant live sets. Infernal scorchers like "We Are The Nightmare", "Shattering The Spell", "Servants To The Night", "Progressive Entrapment" and "A Feast For The Liar's Tongue" are every bit as good as any given Death Metal tune you're likely to have heard in the last ten years. Seemingly effortless efficiency, scathing guitar virtuosity, bombastic drum strafes and polarizing melodies all converge to make "We Are The Nightmare" well worth the purchase.

There are certainly moments where the distinction comes up short, the technical proficiency - while mesmerizing - can become a jumble of frenzied chaos, or the listener is bombarded by an over-indulgence in the increasingly less appealing world of blast beats, and when all is said and done it is probably unlikely that a given listener will come to see "We Are The Nightmare" as the crowning achievement for ARSIS. Even so, several songs on this album are truly masterful works of art, and even the less distinct tunes are a welcome alternative to 90% of the other nonsense polluting today's Metal scene. And as long as there are ambitious, hungry, talented and committed musicians like ARSIS out there in the trenches fighting the good fight in the name of Metal, the essence of the art will remain heartily intact and impervious to the "Failing Winds Of Hopeless Greed".