The first band to really catch my interest on Saturday at the Metal Meltdown, Myself Am Hell blend equal parts speed and death on their self-titled 5 song CD. Just what the hell does that mean? Well, the speed's in the song structures, which contain healthy guitar riffage inspired by bands such as Testament and Vicious Rumors and the death takes form in Justin Klenosky's vocals, best described as severe grind, American style. Rhythmically, the disc straddles the line, with near-constant streams of double bass, yet a slightly progressive touch at times. With a basic description under your belt, I guess you're ready for my thoughts on the disc. Overall, it's good, and I like it more after repeated listens, but I almost sense a band getting comfortable with themselves in the studio, for quite a bit of the cohesiveness and progression that I heard live doesn't really jump to the forefront on the disc. This may be due to the production, or lack of infinite time to lock everything together in the studio since this is an independent release. Performance-wise, the guitar work is strong (to my layman's ears) especially in the solo work. Lyrically, it's pretty grim stuff, lurking in the darker side of consciousness, delivered in true demonic fashion. To me, the combination of all this works well, for I do hear the speed metal influences, which also make tracks a bit more memorable. So while I consider this a good release for the time it was done, I'm anxious to hear some newer material now that the band has had more time to acclimate to each other in studio and live performance situations.