Bloodbath

Fans of Swedish death metal are no doubt well acquainted with with the supergroup known as Bloodbath. And I'm equally sure that most such fans are aware that Bloodbath's sound is purely intended to be a throwback/homage to the old days of Swedish death greatness, when titans like Entombed and Dismember roamed the icy reaches of the north in all their terrible glory. Well, I'm not going to claim that Bloodbath belongs amongst those greats, but they are very good at recreating that sound. At least, on their debut album "Resurrection Through Carnage" they were. Oddly, considering how much enjoyment I derived from that album, I never got around to picking up any of their other material. Until now. I just bought "Nightmares Made Flash", an interesting change since Mikael Åkerfeldt (who may have my favorite death growls of all time) is replaced on this record by Peter Tägtgren of Hypocrisy fame. Tägtgren is no lightweight, having both recorded and produced with great success in the Swedish metal world, but I still had my doubts about his ability to fill those shoes. So I popped the CD in, was greeted with "Cancer of the Soul", and promptly kissed my fears goodbye. Tägtgren brings a depth and ferocity that demonstrate yet again why he is so highly regarded. And the music itself, just like I'd hoped, is still heavy and crunchy, yet remains catchy as hell. If you're at all a fan of Swedish death metal and for some reason you (like me) have taken far too long to get around to this record, I'd suggest checking it out as soon as you get the chance.