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I liked Blackhearth’s self-titled debut, so I was excited when album number two, The Wrath of God, popped up. Right off the bat, I’ll say that I’m not as enamored with this release as I was with the last one. It opens with the punchy metal I was expecting on the tracks "Betrayal" and "Into the Unknown," which rock hard in an Armored Saint kind of way. The vocals are strong, and the guitars fill the room with riffs. After that, The Wrath of God skews to a slower, plodding style that, while still heavy, strikes me as dull. It is like Black Sabbath’s Dehumanizer, an album long on heaviness but short on hooks. The title track features Tim "Ripper" Owens on guest vocals so the song, you guessed it, sounds like Iced Earth circa The Glorious Burden. I don’t dislike The Wrath of God and maybe this pseudo-doom direction will appeal to some, but I can take it or leave it.