It’s like the old school network who used to be a bunch of debauched badly behaved upstarts who have now gone on to respectable jobs getting back one more time to reminisce and try and get back in the groove of their youth. Maybe a bit like the gang of old comrades in Edgar Wright’s ‘The World’s End’ or maybe a bunch of now respectable members of parliament (don’t all shout at once that was a joke) but here we have it in a musical form. Yep bringing back those old school ideas and indeed names such as Sodomizer, Blodheim and Lord Seth, the gang’s all here but this time there is a difference in the form of Old Nick taking control of the speeches. Yep Nick Holmes of Paradise Lost has felt the urge to growl once more turning his back on those oh so sensible gothic days from his day job. Joining him are cohorts from past and present line ups of Katatonia and Opeth, bands who again have lost that rugged edge and have that sheen of respectability about what they now do. This could go oh so wrong really and be like a bunch of pensioners trying to have a kick about and all ending up in hospital with broken limbs.
Thankfully though it doesn’t!
I kind of lost love for Bloodbath after the first couple of releases, both live and on album. I felt completely meh to last album 2008 release ‘The Fathomless Mastery,’ perhaps the rest here has done them some good and the injection of some new / old blood was needed as on the first play of Grand Morbid Funeral I found the volume creeping up, my limbs and head moving beyond mere appreciation into violent frenzy as this collection of eleven new tracks slapped me pretty much silly.
It’s got a real kick to it throughout, down tuned and down beat and a huge thick clagging sound to it, one that I have not heard quite so dirtily since Vallenfyre’s glorious ‘Splinters’ proved such a tonic earlier this year. This has the same feel about it getting down and dirty and just trampling over everything in its path. The shriek in the first few seconds of ‘Let The Stillborn Come To me’ followed by gruff growls from Holmes prove that he still can deliver some downright ugly vocals. The battering drums pound away and the grooves and riffs are pretty much delirious and continue to be so throughout the album coming in a veritable stormy tsunami which you cannot help wanting to play along to. This has heart and soul about it and its evident just listening that the band are literally having a blast. There’s some brilliant flailing solos on this and the song heftily coasts along like a relentless tide taking everything with it on the way before some apocalyptic sounding atmosphere has it ebbing out just a second before next track ‘Total Death Exhumed’ comes battering in. This is brutal as the title suggests and has a coat of crust about it as Holmes virtually death raps away. Some sliding guitar parts and grooves are straight out the rest of the bands Swedish homeland here it’s a cheeky bit of riding and shooting straight and if I could be so bold as to say if they feel they need another singer further down the line Petrov has to be first choice.
What I guess is a sample from a deviant criminal of some sort is at the start of ‘Anne’ I guess there is a meaning behind this number but I am not going to look it up and remain curious. The song starts slowly and crawls in as talking fashion before running riot and raging in a perfectly co-ordinated surge that takes your head off. Only three tracks through and you have to wonder if they can keep the momentum up and continue to impress. Luckily it appears not to be a problem and the craggy flattening and downright vile and blasphemous intensity continues. As things progress one thing that is evident is that it’s near impossible to pick a favourite song, it’s one of those albums that you are pretty much going to have to pick whichever one you are currently listening to. One second they inject some doom into proceedings and go on a slow creeping stealth mission, the next they are simply firing away on all cylinders as numbers like ‘Famine Of God’s World’ will truly contest. Even the song titles have a deathly reek about them and you can almost smell the foul odours summoned up by the likes of ‘Mental Abortion’ and ‘Beyond Cremation’ ugh! It’s no surprise discovering Eric Cutler of the mighty Autopsy is involved adding some guest guitars on some of the tracks. I do love the melody on ‘Unite In Pain’ guess this one is a contender for best track if ever there was one as it solidly grooves away and hits some slow oozing parts full of dread which really help accentuate Holmes growling.
There’s no denying the fact that this is way better than I expected it to be and is clearly something that even in the short time I have spent with it is far more enjoyable than anything I have heard from the members better known bands in a long time. The last and title track finishes things off in style with some really cool underlying ghastly tones and melodies within it and a huge sense of atmosphere (and a guest spot vocally from Chris Reifert) a final nail in this coffin for sure. Great stuff and if I had not submitted albums of the year list before I got my hands on this it would have been a definite contender.
(8.5/10 Pete Woods)
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