My knowledge of Severe Torture's past studio material is rather limited, almost none to be exact. I've always gotten the impression that the band was just another Cannibal Corpse copycat, but Fall of the Despised proves it different. The music is fairly brutal death metal with references to Cannibal Corpse and Suffocation, but Severe Torture still sounds different. A huge plus is the melodic leads that appear frequently. They add enormously to the overall feel of the album. It's obvious that the songs are expertly put together. The music is balanced, and it never seems to get exhausting or materialize as a monotone blur of noise. Another thing that keeps Fall of the Despised interesting even after lots of listens is the various changes in the music which often occur several times within a single track.

The only thing that I don't like too much about Fall of the Despised is the somewhat flat and dry production. Sure you can hear all the little details, but the music isn't thick and juicy. This however seem to be a common thing with the albums recorded in Studio Excess. Fall of the Despised doesn't differ a lot, if anything at all from most other death metal albums nowadays, but it doesn't make it any less good. It did take a few listens before it sank in [mainly due to the production], but it was worth the effort.

Regardless of originality or not Fall of the Despised is a finely tuned death metal album that I can only recommend. Severe Torture is a band I'll have to pay more attention to in the future.