Bloodbath – Resurrection Through Carnage
(Century Media,
2002)
Buy the album
here
Selecting
a Bloodbath album to represent the early Swedish death metal sound in this list
is sort of like claiming Tarantino as my favourite director… not a bad or wrong
selection necessarily, but it’s a choice that suggests I need to do a little
more cultural exploration. While Tarantino
built a career taking influence or directly lifting from classic Westerns,
martial arts films, and b-movies, Bloodbath formed as a side project to pay
homage to their favourite death metal bands.
And like many Tarantino fans and his filmic forbears, Bloodbath, and
this album in particular, were a starting point for me with proper death metal
music. They will forever have my
gratitude for introducing me to Entombed, Dismember, and, less directly,
Death. But also for making a killer
death metal album in its own right. Resurrection Through Carnage brings back
your favourite buzzsaw guitar sound from the 80s and early 90s and really makes
it sound like they kicked in their amps before they recorded it. Part of the enduring appeal of this album is
the DIY feel it has throughout: at times the drums are like damp towels, and
there are even hints that a drum machine was used in places; while the guitars
sound like your mate is playing in the middle of the room with the busted old
amp he bought second hand from a car boot sale.
But it never detracts from how good these songs are. What stands out is the song-writing ability
this band has, initially evidenced by their debut EP Breeding Death, and the unreal death metal growl of Opeth frontman,
Mikael Åkerfeldt.
As
that guitar buzz fades in on opener “Ways To The Grave” you’d be forgiven for
thinking that this album might not be up to much, but by the end of the song
your eyes will be bloodshot from smashing your brains on the inside of your
skull and pointlessly trying to imitate Åkerfeldt’s vocals. They bring rookie levels of energy to every
song but couple it with veteran song-writing experience and an intimate
knowledge of the genre to which they’re paying homage. “So You Die” is a blunt force trauma with an
atmospheric bridge and an awesome vomit-inducing chorus riff. It sounds like it influenced the creation of
Dethklok more than any other band, and carries that same joyous love for gory
and violent lyrics that those cartoon death metallers represent. The first minute of “Mass Strangulation” sounds
like one guy made it on his computer of an evening, but is undeniably catchy,
and is followed by an incredible breakdown riff, and one of Åkerfeldt’s finest
moments, rhyming everything he possibly could with “strangulation”.
It’s
a surprisingly varied but inevitably violent three track opening that sets up
the three track middle passage that really shows off what Bloodbath can
do. “Death Delirium”, the longest song
on the record, and “The Soulcollector” open up more experimentation with tempo
and atmosphere while building a solid base around vicious verse riffs. In both, Anders Nyström’s lead guitar accents
really push Bloodbath’s sound to the next level. But the memory of those songs is kicked in
the skull and left to die by the opening riff of “Buried by the Dead”. This song is stacked with amazing riffs,
brutal vocals, and is the insanely enjoyable centrepiece of this buzzing and
horrific album.
With
more listens though, it’s the quality of the album’s final four tracks that
really stands out. These are dark and
focused death metal songs that establish Bloodbath’s strong identity,
independent of the influences they so clearly admire. “Bathe In Blood” is a flurry of snare-driven
riffing, galloping choruses, and double kick drum rumbling that will have the
most sedate listener flailing wildly. “Trail
of Insects” means you harm. The opening
verse is cruel and dark, and you will rejoice at the catchy morbidity of the
chorus:
Crucified
A trail of insects down your spine
Vermin inside you
Control you
Devour you
Funeral
My sickening mind made you dissolve
Vermin inside you
They move you
Devour you
“Like
Fire” is the heaviest song on the album with a thick, chugging riff working
alongside the double kick drum, and perfect death vocals. The chorus is one of Bloodbath’s best,
perfectly displaying their ability to combine theatrical horror with what feels
like real malevolence:
And when they dream, that’s when my
spirit arise
And when they scream, a little part of
them dies
I find my way into the minds of the weak
They are led astray, it’s now my path
they seek
It’s
the perfect set up for the final track, “Cry My Name”, with its atmospheric
opening riff that conjures equally images of The Phantom of the Opera and The
Exorcist. Bloodbath’s evil lyrics
are all the more enjoyable when it’s exaggerated horror backed by almost
pantomime villainy:
I steal your soul
And carve a hole
Right where your heart once used to be
I watch you die. I hear you cry
It fills my soul with such delight
“Cry
My Name” leaves me feeling like the band have genuinely attempted to steal my
soul when, in fact, it was the sound of early Swedish death metal they
stole. But the members of Bloodbath brought
such song writing skill and innovation to the genre years after it had faded,
that perceptions of their originality are of no consequence. This is classic death metal. Sure, if you really want that authentic sound
you can pick up Left Hand Path by
Entombed, but you’d be missing out on gleefully macabre, and indulgently evil
death metal. And, let’s be honest, none
of us really wishes Reservoir Dogs was
never made.
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