Bloodbath
Breeding Death

Little or nothing is known about Bloodbath today. Or rather, it is clear that they are still active, but perhaps we will have to forget about the glory of the three previous albums, given that, in addition to the already departing Peter Tägtgren, Dan Swanö has now also left, as he wrote on the band's official forum, parting ways with his bandmates with more than a few grievances.

If Bloodbath can return to what they have always been—a band without too many pretensions but with a genuinely honest attitude—considering the significant departures that were somewhat the hallmark of the combo, then those who listen to and follow them might be pleased. But I see it as a very challenging endeavor.

This "Breeding Death" was the first album released by Bloodbath, who were initially seen "only" as a kind of "Super band" and nothing more. The promises, to tell the truth, were definitely there. However, thanks to just three songs, the judgment one can give is certainly positive and commendable, enough to make you want the record not just out of respect and awe for the people involved, but also, and especially for its contents, which seem to be recreated using carbon paper and transmitted, in their original form, by Deicide, Morbid Angel, Entombed, all the late '80s - early '90s American Death, and the best vintage "Swedish", with all the malice and feral wickedness that distinguished it.

So, nothing new under the sky, of course, but, upon re-listening, these three songs (which are, in order: "Breeding Death", "Omnious Bloodvomit", and "Furnace Funeral"), fully demonstrate how much passion and strength have animated the band members to produce such a work, and how much influence was subsequently spawned from them thanks to their extraordinary talent. And thus, as with the other two subsequent works: saw-like guitars, drums at tempos and snare hits so aggressive and ferocious that they give you a headache, growls, rhythmic, choked in certain passages, fierce and well-executed (but, after all, what could one expect from a singing giant like Mikael Åkerfeldt?), gory and perfectly in "gore" and "raw" tradition lyrics that brought so much success to other seminal and successful bands like Autopsy and Cannibal Corpse, and, finally, everything you would expect from a strictly "Death"-oriented work and nothing new.

So, perhaps, this CD should be owned more by genre nostalgics who have enjoyed the school of thought of Frank Mullen (leader of Suffocation, for those who don't know) who used to say that the only thing that mattered in extreme music was speed, period. But perhaps, I might be wrong, this work might also appeal to those who admired, for example, Mikael Åkerfeldt's growls more than the clean passages, or those who fill their pockets with saint cards depicting Dan Swanö as the only God of "Swedish Metal", or maybe to those who fell in love with the sulfurous atmospheres of Jonas Renkse's "October Tide" compared to the latest, albeit martial and excellent, Katatonia.

The judgment is up to each listener.