### Coldworker: The contaminated void

#### 21/10/06 || Lord K Philipson

I have been curious as for what drummer Anders would cook up after the tragic ending of Nasum. Most of us (at least in Sweden, but I’m sure their plague will spread) know it by now: Coldworker. To be perfectly honest, I was never a huge fan of Nasum, or grind in general, though I easily understood that Nasum were on top of their game, not to mention they were a fucken awesome live act. So, learning that Coldworker would have a more death metallish approach was very welcomed by me.

And man, this is some really, really good fucken shit…

Americanized death metal with the needed Swedish touch and tons of blasts that makes it groove like a fucken fag on a vibrating dildo from hell. That’s Coldworker to the bone.

And I’m fucken impressed.

The youngsters (except for Anders who’s up there at my terrific age) display a nerve and vitality seldom found in today’s new bands. Not to mention actual talent, especially in the axe-solo’s and vocal department. Joel’s got a terrific growl with quite a huge fucken punch to them, not too far away from Dan Swanö’s prime growls at times. Nice as fuck. Anders’ performance is fine as always and he could most likely be one very underrated drummer. Hopefully this album will change that fact. He deserves the recognition. Whoever of the guys playing guitars is responsible for doing the solos (maybe both of them are?) sure preferred practicing the axe instead of watching porn while growing up. It seems it paid off in the end even if it means he/they missed out on alot of glorious masturbation. The rhythm guitars aren’t exactly cat shit either. Semi technical riffs here and there together with interesting basic riffage. Groovy, dammit! Oskar’s bass could for sure be higher in the mix coz I can’t say I’m getting a clear picture of it (in the intro to “Return to ashes” it’s really audible though). It’s there as I can hear it in some breaks, but that’s about it.

Production values are ace as well, and if I’m not mistaken I think that they recorded this themselves and had Dan Swanö mix it. If not, fuck it. The guitars contains a huge fucken crunch while still maintaining a clear and crisp tone. I love it. I could wish for a little louder kick drum, but now I’m just nitpicking.

While alot of the material might blend together at a first listen, the following hours of repeated listening to “The contaminated void” make the details stand out. It’s a very well crafted piece of brutality with few breathers. Competent as fuck.

No matter how good the album actually is, “Coldworker” will always be a shit name. It’s awesome that the music more than makes up for it.

8 contaminated penises out of 10.

- Information
- Released: 2006
- Label: Relapse
- Website: www.coldworker.com
- Band
- Joel Fornbrant: vocals
- Anders Bertilsson: guitar
- André Alvinzi: guitar
- Oskar Pålsson: bass
- Anders Jakobson: drums

- Tracklist
- 01. The Interloper
- 02. D.E.A.D.
- 03. An Unforgiving Season
- 04. The Contaminated Void
- 05. Death Smiles At Me
- 06. A Custom-made Hell
- 07. Return To Ashes
- 08. Strain At The Leash
- 09. Flammable
- 10. Antidote
- 11. They Crawl Inside Me Uninvited
- 12. Waiting For Buildings To Collapse
- 13. Heart Shaped Violence
- 14. Generations Decay