Judging by the cover, what would be your guess Neolith are playing? Death metal? Black metal? The answer is the prior. And what the lyrics might be about? Ancient Western Asian stuff is a pretty clear choice and is confirmed by reading the song titles. And the band hail from... Poland, of course!

This is Neolith's fifth album of their career, which began in 1991. But judging by this album (which I must do, since I'm not familiar with the earlier output by the band), Neolith aim for good music rather than putting out every single song or idea they have. 'I Am the Way' features only eight songs and is close to 41 minutes long. Vader, Lost Soul, Morbid Angel, Hate, Behemoth (their most death metal years)... Neolith certainly cannot be found as a unique-sounding band. 'Heat Ye, Hear Ye!' is one perfect example of this facelessness: First, plodding in slow 'n' evil Behemoth country for 3 minutes, the song explodes into a double kick drum attack, and wah-wah lead guitar playing, like many a Vader tune...

But still, Neolith certainly manage to deliver some good arcane death metal at their best. If you're looking for some, that is. At least you won't get any out-of-norm bits here; it's a safe bet. The album starts with slow-ish track, which features both, open-string guitar playing and catchy simplistic riffage that some sludge metal band would love to own, with orating vocals creating a hymn-like procession; but the song enters blast beat frenzies too, and it makes the song a foretaste of for the album, really. Then it is time for 'Wanderer Who Bestows' which is a totally riff-centered maelstorm, and thus a rather different beast when compared to the opener. And is more my kind of stuff, to tell the truth.

The riffs are meaty, chugging and potent. Tremolo picking stays in death metal realm. The solos can be very atmospheric, but there is some rocking ones to be heard too, and still, they very much fit the bill. Plus it's cool to hear more loose vibes in this kind of death metal, too. The drumming is very varying, from strict double kick drum and blast beats to more open kit utilization. The bass guitar rumbles under it all.

Majority of the vocals are low bellowing akin to Johan Liiva (ex-Arch Enemy, ex-Hearse etc.). They are several variations of that, both lower and higher in pitch, and some suitably effected ones. The lyrics are about Sumerian mythology, and I have to admit, that I don't understand much at all... I need to delve myself into that super-interesting mythology ASAP!!!

As the production job is good, meaning not too clean yet defined, and ballsy as should be for death metal music. I cannot grant Neolith a stamp of originality. The songs aren't very catchy for the majority of time and the band kind of run out of ideas a tad too early into the album, this does carry that "grower" potential. So, if you pine for another Polish-sounding Polish death metal record, 'I Am the Way' is an album to add to your checklist.

Rating: 7 (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
08/06/2020 20:22