All aboard! Get ready to take a trip back in time, because that’s the kind of feeling you will get after listening to “Kanun-Law” from Sun Descends. This EP will take you back to the eighties when metal, thrash metal to be exact, was a rising genre. Since I was born in the year before the first Iron Maiden album got released, I wasn’t really able to get into metal with me being too young and so on. Too bad, but I made it all up though and right now I’m reviewing “Kanun-Law” from Sun Descends.

Sun Descends was formed in 2000 in New York City. After two years of hard work August 2001 marked the beginning of Sun Descends’ ascent into the metal realm. Their first EP (“Tide In The Affairs Of Men”) got released through High Voltage Records, but several line-up changes and lack of communication with the label plagued the band the next couple of years. In January 2004 vocalist Mem von Stein (ex-Exumer) met a couple of new musicians and they started to rehearse.

Halfway through 2004 Sun Descends entered Don Fury’s Cyclone studios to record their second EP.

So much for the history of the band, let’s get to the music. The music is anchored in the thrash metal genre and it reminds me of old Slayer (read: Slayer in their “Hell Awaits” era) from time to time. The recording embraces Mem’s intricate lyrical concepts and the raw guitar driven production style of Don Fury. “Kanun-Law” is conceptually based on Mem’s Turkish heritage, which is most evident in the title track (dealing with battle of Constantinople in 1453) of this EP. For all of you thrash lovers out there: the normal version of “Kanun-Law” features Exumer’s “A Mortal In Black” demo from 1985. “Kanun-Law” is available for $9,- (including shipping and handling) through the bands website. Perhaps I’m gonna get me that copy too, because this album is a killer!