A vast battlefield comes into view, two armies are fighting to the death. On one side, a massive Persian army is carrying on their conquest of the world with Greece as their next conquest. On the other end, you have an army of 300 Spartan men standing between the Persian army and the end of the Spartan life as they knew it. This is the imagery playing out in Aegis, the new EP from Austria's Upon A Red Sky. Based on the movie and comic book 300, this is a blistering seven song attack on the ears and I say that in a positive way.

Musically, there's not a lot to really beat on here. The guitars are quite heavy here, a weight that constantly is punishing but never overbearing. There are also excellent riffs fill the record throughout, from melodic passages to the breakdowns that kick you in the teeth. The drums kick you right in the chest, beating like the feet of a thousand soldiers running onto a battlefield. Vocalist Chris Breetzi is a dead ringer for Whitechapel's Phil Bozeman, with his highs and lows cutting through the sonic barrage with a fine clarity. Together, all these elements form an excellent soundtrack for the epic battles of 300. Hell, I feel like throwing this one and watching the movie at the same time, it compliments it that well.

I enjoyed this EP quite a bit, I love 300 to death and it's awesome to see a band like UARS putting out something like this. UARS has a lot of potential here and this release shows that this band has the chance to really make an impact in the deathcore scene. Who knows, maybe this EP could break them here in the States, something I'd love to see. So do yourself a favor and put this EP on and prepare to dine in hell.

9/10