Bloodbath
Unblessing The Purity

A brief concentrate of pure Death Metal. Nothing more, nothing less. The new release from Bloodbath, "Unblessing The Purity", sees the return of Mikael Åkerfeldt as vocalist and the departure of Dan Swano, with Per "Sodomizer" Eriksson replacing him on guitar.

This new release (available from the official Peaceville website) is an EP with a short duration of about 15 minutes, but in this brief time, the band expresses all it can; rage, power, devastation. The record opens in crescendo, with distant noises gradually growing stronger, paving the way for the devastating growl of the Opeth frontman, which I have rarely heard as vicious and powerful, even though in every expression it remains the best growl in the scene, in my opinion. The string instruments have heavy, killer sounds, leaving no escape, solos that glide away like blades and seem to wound the listener all over the body, nothing tremendously technical, it's just raw power and violence. The rhythmic session is fast and hammering, constantly lingering in the head of those hit by the fury of this music. Each song strikes the listener squarely in the chest, giving no chance to respond; it's a whirlwind of heaviness and malevolence.

If you are looking for astonishing guitar passages, countertimes or melody, be aware that you have got the wrong record. There’s nothing of that here, just some good old-school Death Metal. It doesn't deserve the highest mark only because playing Old School Death Metal in 2008 has zero originality.