Fourth album from this bunch of death purveyors from Sweden who offer a different twist to what you would normally expect from the worlds death metal hub by injecting punk and crust elements that make their songs urgent and a tad nastier to boot. Opening with the title track and a drum fill start a lone guitar riff is focussed on the right before the left side joins in gradually increasing the power alongside an excellent guitar inflection that straddles it all ably ready for the tune to explode into life. It almost has a D-beat style as the scabby crust infested deathliness possesses a grisly gnarliness (is that actually a word, it is now).
Whilst my superlatives surrounding the attitude of filth and fury it would be amiss to say that this is purely downtuned aural thuggery as “To Walk Through The Pyres” attests to as a cracking catchy riff is unleashed and a more straight up death metal beat similar to Death Breath, Autopsy etc. “Tombsday” is very Entombed like due to its death ‘n’ roll riffing swagger and makes the follower “Long May You Rot” seem that more nasty for its one minute duration thereabouts. I love “Old Fires Die” as it releases an inherent stagnant breath of fetid vaporous toxicity but is still awesomely catchy. Every tune on this has something different to offer as the pace it racked up for “On Pillars Of Madness” to a borderline speed death approach similar to The Crown as the tune is relentless and has scorching lead breaks.
Returning the album to the slower realms “When The Reaper Comes” a pulsing drum thrust renders the track almost tribal in stance and contrasts with the incendiary “The Venom” a two minute mauling with punk attitude, like The Rotted actually, as its punk infestation enables this to keep its ugly head firm aloft even during the metal lead break leaving “Mad Shadows” as the closing track. Steeped in doom death styling the song evolves slowly and purposefully until the chainsaw riff break rudely inserts itself and increases the pace. The lead again is brilliant, very Fast Eddie as the tune changes tack again for a drum fill beat and a new more sombre riff and melody to end this album superbly.
This is an excellent album much like the bands back catalogue as it fuses a multitude of styles into one slab of ultra infectious catchy death metal.
(9/10 Martin Harris)
https://www.facebook.com/bombsofhades
Leave a Reply