It's always a tragic thing for a band to lose a member in something like a road accident, and as certain as they will all say that they will continue on with new blood as strong as before rarely is this the case. Not so with Asomvel. Since founding member Jay Jay Winter passed in 2010 these English Northeast grizzled veterans have been continuing to count him in spirit as a member of the band, and on this, their first material to be released without him (aside from the post-humous Stare At Death And Spit EP in 2011) it does sound like he never left them. In part this is of course due to what a sonic dead ringer new frontman Conan is for Jay Jay, but also because that same unrelenting spirit that gave that 2011 EP its name is stamped all across this too. Right from the start as Conan howls "Dead Set On Livin'" death is put firmly in his place and for the 36 minutes all the virtues of self-reliance, self-respect and standing strong through adversity that Jay Jay once sang about are spat out in mantra-like form. As long as Asomvel live then Jay Jay will live on with them too.