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Bloodbath: Unblessing the purity

26/03/08 || Euthanatos

After Åkerfeldt had left Bloodbath, I started thinking “well, there’s not really much point in going on is there?”. Still, they got Ol’Pete from Hypocrisy in the fold, and I thought their album was cool, not as good as their first EP, but it was cool. Then they had the brilliant idea of getting rid of Dan Swanö. Fuck that. Swanö is God and you don’t fucking mess with God. You ungrateful fucks. You should all be impaled.

But then, Åkerfeldt came back and they even added Per ‘Sodomizer’ Eriksson to the fold. Fancy that, I didn’t see this coming. So I forgot all about Swanö and got pysched about hearing another Bloodbath EP. There are four songs here and I’ll cut to the chase. No, this isn’t as good as “Breeding Death”. I don’t think anything they’ll ever release can be quite as good as “Breeding Death” for the simple reason that it was a moment captured in time, drunk geniuses got together for fun and made amazing old-school death metal. That’s something that happens once in a lifetime.

Still, “Unblessing The Purity” is not crap. Far from it. Personally, I found it awesome to hear Åkerfeldt singing death metal again. Hooray for Opeth fanboys! Seriously, his growling, guttural vocals are amazing, it just doesn’t get any better than this. They’re aggressive, they’re clear, they’re crisp, they’re evil. He is the quintessential death metal vocalist.

The drums are naturally much better than the first EP, after all, Swanö may be a genius, but he ain’t no wizard drummer (although he does hold his ground pretty tight). Martin Axenrot is one hell of a drummer and this greatly enriches Bloodbath’s sound. Naturally this had been evidenced before, as Axenrot was the drummer on “Nightmares Made Flesh”. What we see here, in short, is a lot more modern, much more in the vein of “Nightmares Made Flesh” than “Resurrection Through Carnage” and “Breeding Death”, and that’s not a good thing. I’d much rather these fellas slowed things down. Yes, Axenrot can blastbeat, we get it, now fucking give me a riff I can appreciate. “Weak Aside” is the one that most closely resembles what I’m going for, so check that one out.

So if we have to rate Bloodbath’s releases, this is how it would go: First and foremost, “Breeding Death”. Then, “Resurrection Through Carnage”. Then, “Unblessing the Purity”. Finally, “Nightmares Made Flesh”. I’d actually rate this EP just as good as “Resurrection Through Carnage”, as that album has a lot of filler. Yes, it fucking does, and you know it. There are only four songs in this EP, but they’re fucking quality, so that has to mean something.

Alas, this isn’t as memorable as one would expect. Yes, it’s death metal, yes, it’s still old-school (but barely), yes, the musicians kick ass and the vocalist is the almighty voice of thunder. But without butt clinching riffs and to die for hooks, you pretty much get lost in the pack. Particularly if we consider the group’s past.

The cover: Now this is one fucking good cover. And what I love about it is that it was done by a fan, a fellow named Dusty Peterson. Motherfucking props, my boy, this might be the album cover of the year.

7 in the wake of pain, breeding death out of 10.

Information
Released: 2008
Label: Peaceville
Website: www.bloodbath.biz
Band
Mikael Åkerfeldt: vocals
Anders “Blakkheim” Nyström: guitars
Jonas Renkse: bass
Per ‘Sodomizer’ Eriksson: guitars
Martin “Axe” Axenrot: drums

Tracklist
01. Blasting the Virginborn
02. Weak Aside
03. Sick Salvation
04. Mouth of Empty Praise

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