### Torture Killer: Swarm!

#### 14/03/06 || Statik Majik

I have to admit that here’s another band I never bothered to check out until I heard that Chris Barnes himself was about to perform vocals for their latest album. Well, having it featured on our Audio Autopsy made the decision to check ‘em out even easier. So, the history of the band is probably familiar to most of the death metal fans out there, but nevertheless I’ll sum it up by saying that Torture Killer started as a Six Feet Under cover-band which soon decided to compose their own stuff in the vein of Obituary/Six Feet Under. Since I haven’t heard any of their Torture Killer-albums prior to this, I honestly can’t say how well they succeeded with those. Not too poorly it seems, considering where they are now. But with “Swarm!” they did more than just succeed though.

So, if I understood it all correctly, it seems like Barnes is now considered as full-time member of Torture Killer. Damn good decision. I’ve always been a fan of his vocals ( Note by The Lord: Jesus Fucken Chris(t) you are retarded, haha ). He did some awesome job with Cannibal Corpse and, excuse me for saying this, even better a job with Six Feet Under. And I believe his performance on “Swarm!” is his best work to date. He’s probably not the best death metal vocalist out there, but definitely one of the most impressive ones. I don’t know what material his vocal chords are made of because the guttural voices he releases from his throat are out of this fucken world. Like he growls on the Forever dead -song: “I’m not a man, I’m a fucking beast”. Yeah, I couldn’t agree more.

This disc is a perfectly manufactured hybrid of Obituary and Six Feet Under. It has all the good… ok, let’s be honest, best aspects of the music of both bands ( Note by The Lord: Not only are you retarded, you are completely drunk as well it seems ). The groove, heaviness, simple yet effective rhythms/riffs, impressive growls, you name it. I even had to check the booklet in order to see that Allen West isn’t really playing on this album. These geezers do such a fucken good job sounding like older Six Feet Under that even I get confused.

Seriously, “Swarm!” is right there on par with SFU’s “Haunted” and “War path”. Fuck it, it’s even better than those two. I fucken love this shit. Now I do have to check out the earlier albums from this band – even if Chris Barnes is not involved with them. Because this shit left me yearning for more.

Honestly, all the death metal you’ll be needing for 2006 are the following: God Among Insects’ “Zombienomicon” and Torture Killer’s “Swarm!”.

8,5 obsessive homicides out of 10

- Information
- Released: 2006
- Label: Metal Blade
- Website: www.torturekiller.com
- Band
- Chris Barnes: vocals
- Jari Laine: guitar
- Taneli Hatakka: guitar
- Tuomas Karppinen: bass
- Tuomo Latvala: drums

- Tracklist
- 01. Swarm!
- 02. Forever dead
- 03. A funeral for the masses
- 04. Multiple counts of murder
- 05. Obsessed with homicide
- 06. Sadistic
- 07. Cannibal gluttony
- 08. I killed you
- 09. Heading towards the butchery
- 10. A violent scene of death