Bloodbath
The Fathomless Mastery

Year of Our Lord 2008: four years after the excellent "Nightmares Made Flesh," the Swedish all-stars band returns to the spotlight with a new full-length, following the EP "Unblessing The Purity" and the live album "The Wacken Carnage," both released in the past year. This is one of the last bands around keeping the flag of the purest, most uncompromising (Sweden) Death Metal flying high, updated in rhythms but absolutely unchanged in sound choice, taking as a reference the golden period of the genre in question, which is the years between 1989 and 1994.

For those who may not be familiar with the group's biography, suffice it to say that the founding members are none other than Anders Nyström and Jonas Renkse from Katatonia, Mike Åkerfeldt from Opeth, and Dan Swanö (well, the latter is linked to a myriad of bands and more or less solo projects, but it goes without saying that he is a fundamental artistic figure for the birth and evolution of Death Metal in Scandinavia). With the release of the previous full-length, the good Swanö left the troop, replaced admirably in this new chapter of the Bloodbath saga by axe man Per "Sodomizer" Eriksson. To support and bind everything together, we find for the second album in a row, drummer Martin Axenrot.

The reasons for the departure of the former Edge Of Sanity member are easily noticeable in this new "The Fathomless Mastery": as was announced in an official press release by the band about a year ago, artistic differences are due to the brutal turn the Swedish combo has taken, significantly strengthening the rhythm section with numerous blast beats and tensioning reminiscent of the American school, particularly the Floridian one, primarily Morbid Angel and derivatives (latest Behemoth leading the pack) evident in tracks like "Mock the Cross" and Deicide (an influence softly hovering over the entire work and especially in the powerful vocal performance of Åkerfeldt).

For the rest, we are faced with a work that is certainly not innovative or experimental, indeed filled with references to historical acts of the genre like early Entombed, Grave, Unleashed, etc., but it will certainly win over the hearts of those who nostalgically remember the good old days or perhaps those who want to have their eardrums massacred by over 40 minutes of power, atmosphere (guaranteed by the knowledgeable and sick touch in Nystrom's prodigious solos, as always), impact, technical prowess, and impressive ability to thin the air.

Multiple tracks know how to be captivating, such as the opener "At The Behest Of Their Death" with its fitting guitar melody, the rhythmically elaborate "Iesous," the more traditional and dramatic "Hades Rising" (with an ending very much in the Katatonia style) and "Process Of Disillumination" up to the concluding "Wretched Human Mirror," filled with disillusioned sadness and fury.

In short, there is something for everyone's spoiled tastes.

Enjoy listening.