Crusty Seattle blackened death quartet Book Of Black Earth have offered interesting moments in the past, but nothing as impressively sustained as The Cold Testament: The band’s third, strongest full-length carves out a darker, harsher, more memorable (almost sing-along) sound than what we’ve heard on past offerings. For starters, they dropped their keyboardist since 2008’s conceptual Horoskopus; as a result, these eight songs/36 minutes are more guitar driven, punk-feeling, raw, and plenty worthy the Phobia shirt in the below band photo. You’ll probably also note — after monster opener “Weight Of The World” and blistering second track “Cross Contamination” — that the overall feel’s looser, while remaining coiled, sharp-focused, tight (even on epic 7-minute closer “I See Demons”). The Cold Testament was tracked with Chris Common (Pelican, The Sword) at Seattle’s Red Room Studio and mixed/mastered by Dan Swano (Bloodbath, Nasum, Opeth) at Unisound in Sweden. Listen:

Book Of Black Earth – “Weight Of The World”

Book Of Black Earth – “Cross Contamination”

Book Of Black Earth – “Antarctica”

Book Of Black Earth – “Irritating Spectre”

Book Of Black Earth – “Termination”

Book Of Black Earth – “Research And Destroy”

Book Of Black Earth – “Road Dogs From Hell”

Book Of Black Earth – “I See Demons”

The Cold Testament is out 5/24 via Prosthetic.