Cleveland death/black metallers “Manticore” are back, after 6 years since their last offering “For Rats and Plague” (2006), with their new full­length, "BeholdThe Ascension Of The Execrated", on “Deathgasm Records”. This album is characterized by 30 minutes and 9 tracks of simple, and heavy riff­oriented death­black metal. The music is simple to the point of almost deserving the title “minimalistic”. Most of the songs sound the same, with subtle difference in the riffs, with songs structured around a primitive guitar approach. Songwriting is very formulaic and one dimensional. Vocals/rasps are pretty unspectacular, sticking to the most archaic form of early black metal bands. Additionally, the production quality is seriously lacking. Although a rawer sound can be a common feature of black metal, it has a so decrepit, analogue sound, without force and power, which results in a very weak and muffled production. If you enjoy raw, dirty, rough death/black in the way it was performed in the early 90's, then there are chances that you will also like “Manticore”. But for me, “Behold The Ascension Of The Execrated” just doesn’t have any dark feelings that a lot of primitive black metal albums had in those seminal days.