“Chainsaw Surgery,”“Autopsy Extravaganza,” and “Gore Apocalypse.” With tired and uninspired song titles like these, I’ll admit I feared the worst from these 15-year, Swedish veterans of the metal underground. Truth be told, I could tear this CD apart. Ridiculous outdated lyrics, lack of originality. . .load this review up with comparison after comparison. . .this riff, that solo. . .completely repetitive drum beats, blah, blah, blah.
But I enjoyed this disc. It hearkens back to the glory days of death metal (1988-1992). No samples or atmospherics, just straight ahead, no frills, uncompromising death metal. Stand out tracks “Stray Bullet Kill” and “Demons Divine” have some nice momentum that they build with slower intros. “Retaliation” has an underlying ‘80s hardcore punk flow to it, which was a welcome change of pace. Bassist Erik Rundqvist’s vocals, although (luckily) unintelligible, are very effective. He has a commanding voice that I would really like to hear live. Urban Gustafsson and Ulf Dalegren are the token dual lead guitars. Their influences are obvious and many—take your pick from the thrash and death metal scenes of the late ‘80s. The disc’s old-school feel is carried over into the artwork, which immediately made me think of old Autopsy and Necrophagia album covers. Check out the artist’s website at wwwl.juanjocastellano.com.
Would I recommend this CD? Yes.
Will I remember it a month from now? Probably not.
