When I first heard talanas' 2010 EP release, Reason & Abstract, I knew this band was going to be special. Mixing elements of Ihsahn's solo works and Opeth, talanas has created a blend of Death Metal that crosses many metal boundaries. On their new album, The Waspkeeper, talanas pulls out all stops and delivers over an hour of versatile metal. From album opener, Ananta (The Portrait) to the 2-part closer, The Unhealing, talanas delivers elements of Black & Death Metal with hints of traditional metal and very beautiful acoustic passages. The vocals deliver a cacophony of mayhem with Blackened Vokills, death grunts and insane clean vocals. This is definitely a great metal band and The Waspkeeper - although only released yesterday - is already in my top 5 metal list of 2011.