Founded in 2002, Light This City (Who were a five piece consisting of vocalist Laura Nichol, guitarists Steven Shirley and Tyler Gamlen, bassist Mike Dias and drummer Ben Murray) released their debut album (The Hero Cycle on Through Reflections Of Ruin Records). The band got picked up by Prosthetic Records in 2004, and “Remains Of The Gods” is their first offering on this label. According to the band’s biography they are inspired by “legendary melodic death metal acts such as Carcass and At the Gates, while combining elements of older thrash metal like Metallica, Megadeth and Testament as well as traits of classic death metal.” Sounds promising then! The band has had some lineup changes and replaced their guitarists with Brian Forbes and Steve Hoffman.

At the time the band had to enter the studio for this record, the band were a three-piece (drums, bass, vocals). Main songwriter in the band, Ben Murray laid down both the drum and guitar tracks, and if you listen to this cd you know you are dealing with a guy with talent oozing out of him. And I read somewhere that the guy is 17...Vocalist Laura is one of the few female vocalists who can do this kind of job; and she could end up just as good as Arch Enemy’s Angela Gossow.

The bands music is clearly influenced by the Swedish bands mentioned above, and Light This City does a fine job with their turn on this style. Melodic riffs, blastbeats, fast doublebass; it's all there. I would’ve liked to hear a guitarsolo in some songs but I think Mr. Murray already had a handfull with his current task. My favorite tracks of the cd are ‘The Static Masses’, which is a bit more on the thrashy side, compared to the more melodic-death orientated tunes. ‘Your Devoted Victim’ could be an old In Flames track, with some great melodic guitarplaying going on. The ending of this tune is also great because you really get the idea that the track build up to it.

I also love the fact that there are no clean vocals on this record. It's easy for a band to cram in a sing-along-chorus because that seems to be the trend, and it's nice to hear that there are people out there who refuse to utilise that cheap trick. I do have to say that I would have prefered a bit more variation in the tempo of the songs since they seem to hover around the same safe "region".

"Remains Of The Gods" is a very decent metal disc. It drags at some points but it is clear that Light This City has the necessary talent to evolve in one of the better American bands in this genre. I believe the average age of the band is 19 or 20 as well; so that leaves enough room for growth. If you can appreciate any band named above than it's certainly worth checking these guys and girl out!