When Reunion Comes: At The Gates - At War With Reality

"The War Has Just Begun..."


At the Gates' classic album, Slaughter of the Soul, is one of the instigators of the modern melodic death metal sound, and one of the best melodic death metal albums in itself. I never really liked the genre, but a handful of albums and Slaughter of the Soul are in my library and does get a spin regularly. When they announced their comeback, I admit, I got pretty excited. Though ATG announced multiple reunion live shows, and said regularly that they would not make a new album as it would be pointless to release an album more than ten years after Slaughter of the Soul and would just dissapoint people. On October 27th, 2014 they released At War With Reality, and let me tell you something, the wait has been woth it.

The production is clean and smooth, you can hear every instrument clearly, but it still packs a good punch. The music is a little bit different, maybe leaning more towards traditional swedish death metal, but don't worry, there is still plenty of sweet melodic riffing to go around. Drummer Adrian Erlandsson has not lost his edge, his beats are still as good as they were on Slaughter. His snare has a really nice crunchy production, which is satisfying to listen to every time he hits it. He spends most his times playing mid-paced rhythms, which you cannot help headbanging to, but most notable. for me at least, is his fast paced skank beats. They are powerful and sound like they are going to trample all over you.

The abrasive, screechy growling of Tomas Lindberg sounds just as wild and menacing as they were on Slaughter. He changes it up from time to time on songs like Order from Chaos with this creepy narration voice. The bass is quite prominent, while it mostly just is there for rhythm purposes, it still sounds rich when you sometimes just catches a catchy bass riff.

As with other ATG albums, the best part of the album are the guitars. as traditional ATG, they play a lot sweet tremolo riffs, that stirs that inner lust you have because you've always wanted to play guitar, but never had the time to learn it. The tremolo riffs sounds like a mix between melodic death and old school death. They also take the time to make some riffs that sound like something that could be on Slaughter, but really belongs in another place. I especially like the mid-paced riffs on many of the songs, it really shows both guitarists Anders Björler and Martin Larsson talents. The tone and structure is bone chilling.

What really sets this album apart from their previous albums, is that you can feel they didn't want to make another Slaughter, and that they did not. This album stands alone really well, but it still did not have that impact on me like Slaughter did. This album is a nice continuation of ATG as a band and I now I know that if they release another album, it can stand alone like this one did, and not be dependent on earlier albums like a lot of old bands who make new records years after their classics do.

Rating

7.8

Fuck the Facts - Amer

"The Beauty Under the Grind"

Fuck the Facts is a band that has been around since 1999 with Topon Das being the only original member left, they have released eight albums and a ton of splits, EP's and compilations. And in my opinion the band really got into its groove when vocalist Mel Mongeon entered the band in 2002. It was when I listened to their 2006 album Stigmata High Five, that I was intrigued with the bands panicky and eccentric grindcore and melodic, groovy and noisy style of death metal. And it should be said right away that I really love this band, so it is very hard for me to maintain an objective view of this EP.

Fuck the Facts have changed their sound slowly over the years, from a very eerily and outright maniacal sounding grindcore group to the more melodic and groovy sounding metal, while still maintaining their grindcore roots. While this EP certainly has much more melody and less grindcore, their intentions are the same. Insane up-beat music on songs such as 'Vent Du Nord' and mindblowingly beautiful passages in songs such as 'Une Triste Vue' and 'Amère', Now I must admit that I don't know shit about the french language even though I had it in school through 7th to the 9th grade. But I don't really mind it since I don't read lyrics half the time I listen to metal anyways, there is one song with english lyrics though and that track is just as good as the others.

The whole EP is full of both intense grindy moments and fantasticly executed more melodic passages. Topon delivers some really insane riffing, the insane kinda riffing that is both wild and catchy at the same time. Drummer Vil applies fast and precise blast beats and other tricky-sounding beats. The bass I can rarily hear, though bassist Marc Bourgon delivers some great backing vocals. On top of the pile of excellent music and productions is Mel Mongeon's signature yelling vocals mixed with some deep-growls which was used on the
last album 'Die Miserable' and EP 'Misery', and they're certainly a welcoming addition on this EP as much as they were on the forementioned.

Fuck the Facts is a band that continues to get better and better, and this is no exception. This is definitely a great collection of tracks that I'm gonna listen to a long time from now.

Rating

8.8

Necrony - Pathological Performances

''An Auditory Annihilation...''

The terms of 'goregrind' and 'melodic death metal' would not normally go hand in hand for my musical taste, since I pretty much demise 90% of melodic death metal. But to my surprise this combination of Swedish melodic death metal and Carcass-inspired goregrind works really well and compliments each other at certain points of the album. Now, I must say that I heard their demos (Severe Malignant Pustule and Mucu-Purulent Miscarriage) before this, and I was very impressed with the jobs on those two. Pure, raw goregrind at its finest but those two lacked character. So, I was really anticipating something special when I popped my copy of their debut album in my stereo.

Pathological Performances is not only an escalation compared to their early demos but comes out on top as a mammoth-like masterpiece of disgusting grind. The demos were very brutal and devastating because of the raw production, but I really like this more filtered and edgy sound. Musically, they have also advanced quite a bit, the songs don't feel like rushed or fluky.

This album is built up as a creepy intro, ten well composed and executed songs, and a neat instrumental outro. There are memorable, catchy riffs, furious and various blastbeats and skankbeats, melodious solos and even an eerie-sounding flute intro on 'Acute Pyencephalus And Cerebral Decomposure' and 'Accumulation of Exudate'. These things are certainly positive improvements and ideas further executed from the demos (mostly Severe Malignant Pustule), the songs are more diverse, for example frenzied blastbeat and fast-picking tremolo riffs will passage into mid-paced riffs with simple doublepedal beats with a lot of cymbal-smacking. The intermediate pieces (sometimes with solos) between verses is a great way to enhance the song length, complexity and depth, for example in the song 'Submassive Necrosis Disgorgement', the entire section from 1.25 to 2.49 and begins again briefly at 3.03 as a break. This beautifully placed mid-piece is one of the moments where this album truly shines through and stands out, well this and their melodic and out of place solos, this gives the album character and ups the song writing to make you enjoy their unique sound a little more.

The vocals are as good as ever, with clear production so you can understand the grotesque gore lyrics they usually spew out. There are also some incredible guest performances in the vocal department by mighty Dan Swanö and Johan Axelsson. The production on this album is amazing. It sounds like the producer went carefully through recording track and edited and adjusted to make the most raw and simple production and make every instrument fully able to be heard, even the bass sticks out every now and then (for example the intro on 'Gynopathological Excav-Eater'). The whole sound picture just blends into one another, the collaboration between the guttural noises and the medicinal vocabulary telling stories of pathology and parasitic sicknesses.

All in all, this is one of my favourite records of all time. Every time I put this on, I get surprised again and again. The feel, the music and overall sound just makes this album a must-have for any deathgrind fan out there. If you can find it somewhere for a decent price, I got mine for around 30 euro which is considered pretty cheap since I have heard people buying this album for the outrageous price of 100 euro.

Memorable Songs:
Dexterous Embryectomy, Gynopathological Excav-Eater, Ocular Obliteration, The Squirming Worms, Acute Pyencephalus and Cerebral Decomposure

Rating

9.0

Carcass - Heartwork

"Enslaved to the Grind"


Compared to the predecessor which were much more dark and creepy, Heartwork punches you in the face in a much more straight forward style.
When you think melodic death metal, names like Children of Bodom and Arch Enemy will probably pop into your mind. And the idea of death metal blended with clean vocals and keyboards. Wipe out those thoughts, because Heartwork is the album that shows how melodic death metal should be done. With hair on the chest and a firm grip around the balls and of course the snarling vocals of Jeff Walker. Many Carcass fans hates this album and the following album Swansong that got released in '96, and that is a damn shame because this album is the bands best effort next to Necroticism: Descanting the Insalubrious. I have heard this album being called "a blueprint for selling out". It's more like a blueprint and a showcase of how melodic death metal should be played. Packed with aggression from the guitars, and the melodic solos of Amott fits well into the songs and so does Dr. Steers more aggressive solos. Ken Owen steps up yet again and after listening to the album a couple of times and learning the tracks so you know when he hits the crashes, it is just a fucking awesome feeling to smack the air at the same time! Or... your drums, if you're a drummer.

Lyrically the album is not as much about carving up stuff as it used to be. The album still got some really good song writing and a song that really struck me was Arbeit Macht Fleisch. First of all I was wondering why Carcass was doing a song with a German title, but after talking about it with my friend we remembered that the Nazis used the term Arbeit Macht Frei, that term is also mentioned in the song. Speculations is that the lyrics of the songs are comparing modern society to a death camp. I don't know what to think myself, which leaves a great mystery about the song, and you can form your very own opinion. Besides Arbeit Macht Fleisch this album is just filled with tracks you can listen to again and again. I would suggest Blind Bleeding the Blind, Embodiment and Doctrinal Expletives. But if you're not too lazy, it would be a better idea to listen to the whole album!

Some may think it is just filling for a review... But I always enjoy a good cover, and I like to talk about it, also when it is bad. I must admit that Carcass is not the band that I would mention first when I think about a band that got a line of awesome covers on the shelf. Heartwork is not really an exception. Even though it is not as horrible as the grindcore covers and Swansong. It still just strikes me as an odd cover to choose. The cover, or at least the sculpture on the cover was created by Hans Rudolf Giger, more commonly known as H. R. Giger. He also created works for bands like Celtic Frost, Danzig, Edge of Sanity and Triptykon.

Heartwork is a truly unique album. Even if you got the opinion that this album led to a sell out for Carcass this album clarified the bands legacy as legends. Pioneering grindcore and melodic death metal, now that is an achievement. With the rumours of a new Carcass record I really hope it will contain some elements from Heartwork. Now that Michael Amott and Daniel Erlandsson is not in the band any more, Carcass could return to their harder roots and mix it up with a bit of Necroticism.
But if you enjoy snarling vocals, and a fast assault with melodic elements you should definitely try out the album, and even if you don't know this band, give it a shot anyway! Maybe you have stayed away from Heartwork because of the negative feelings there is regarding melodic death metal, maybe you should think again and give it a chance...

Rating

9.3