by Alex HendersonIf Deadsoil participated in a tribute to the Rat Pack (not that they would do such a thing -- unless they wanted to be really ironic), the most logical song to cover would be Dean Martin's 1960 hit "Ain't That a Kick in the Head." Not because Deadsoil sound anything like the jazz-influenced pop crooner, but because their music feels like a kick in the head -- a harsh, nasty, cruel, totally merciless kick in the head. And those who appreciated the unrelenting viciousness of Deadsoil's debut EP, Forever the Enemy, will be glad to know that they don't soften the blows a bit on The Venom Divine, their first full-length album. The German metalcore torturers had some lineup changes after Forever the Enemy; guitarist Boris Pracht, bassist Stefan Eutebach, and drummer Christian Bass remain from the Forever the Enemy lineup, but lead singer Marcel Strötter and guitarist Jan Olejnik are gone -- and the newcomers are Friedrich Weber (lead vocals) and Jens Basten (guitar). Not to worry: Weber can scream as ferociously as Strötter, and the band's sound hasn't changed. Strötter was effective, but not irreplaceable; Weber proves himself to be an equally skull-crushing vocalist on sledgehammer tracks like "Despise the Logic," "Hellsphere," and "Enemies Will Suffer" -- all of which point to the fact that metalcore doesn't have to be an exclusively American phenomenon. While Europe (especially Scandinavia) has come to dominate the death metal/black metal field, the United States has maintained the upper hand in metalcore (at least as of 2004). But Deadsoil demonstrate that Europe's contributions to metalcore shouldn't be overlooked -- and if The Venom Divine isn't quite in a class with the best albums that Hatebreed and Throwdown have to offer, it's still a noteworthy, decent example of metalcore's kick-in-the-head ferocity.