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Vomitory: Opus mortis VIII
16/11/11 || revenant
What the shit? It’s almost six months since the release of “Opus Mortis VIII” and we haven’t covered it yet? What a fucken disgrace. We, the staff of your favourite website, should hang our heads in shame. May our cocks shrivel to the size of thimbles (which in the instance of staffer Smalley would be an improvement) for ignoring this release for so long. And I don’t just say this because Vomitory are associated with the site and share our forums, I say it because we’ve ignored one of the death metal albums of the year. Well, not any more.
Now before I begin proper, I do want to point out I’m not the most experienced person in the world when it comes to Vomitory. This is only my second Vomitory album after ‘Carnage Euphoria’. So don’t expect a detailed rundown of their history, where this fits in regards to the rest of their discography and whatnot. You want to know opinions on that? Then check out our forums, where no doubt Lord K (resident Vomitory groupie) or any other of the “experts” will give their two cents. In terms of this and “Carnage Euphoria”, I’ll take this any day, it’s more accessible and catchier than the previous release. But that is the only comparison you’re getting, instead this review is going to focus on why “Opus Mortis VIII” is the shiznit.
For starters, this is one hell of a catchy album. There are so many damn catchy riffs on this that bust your skull open and ram their way into your mind. For the first month after getting this I’d have riffs float into my head and I’d be thinking “where the fuck is that from?” The answer on 90% of occasions was this album. These guys are the kingpins of Swedeath riffs, and this album is chock full of ace grooves and thrashy riffs. Whether it be the slow crushing grooves of “Shrouded in Darkness”, or the galloping “Forever Damned”, these songs all have sticking power and are awesome as fuck.
Another facet of Vomitory’s music I absolutely love is the breaks. Man, do they do these well. Pretty much every song here has one, and every one of them is well conceived and delivered. Usually it’s a faster, thrashier section with tremendous blasting from Tobias on the drums and a guitar solo to punctuate the break rather than be the core reason for it. I love a good break, and this album comes close to being the best in delivering them this year.
I haven’t mentioned vocals yet, and these too are ace. Too many death metal bands nowadays seem to be getting away with generic growling, which is another area where Vomitory stands ahead of the pack. Erik’s growls are great. He sounds like a demon vomiting the soul of Christ and all his followers. There is just something deeper in his voice that gives it an edge, so when he belches out “they will bleed, they will suffer” or “mankind forever damned” – you fucking believe it.
There are a lot of great tracks on “Opus Mortis VIII”, but to pin it down to one I’d have to say my favourite song from the album is without a doubt “Hate in a Time of War”, with it’s creepy intro leading into massive slower grooves, before again kicking up to a faster up tempo riffs that just destroys. Only one word describes the way they deliver this: majestic.
“Opus Mortis VIII” is a bloody great album, and yes I’m a little embarrassed to have left it this long to review it. It’s all at once catchy, groovy, thrashy and hella good. It’s not a perfect album (but how many of those are there?), but it’s definitely up there as one of the best death metal albums of 2011 and is a likely top 5 for mine come the end of the year. In writing this I’m probably preaching to the converted, but if you haven’t checked out this album yet, you’re missing out.
- Information
- Released: 2011
- Label: Metal Blade Records
- Website: www.vomitory.net
- Band
- Erik Rundqvist: vocals, bass
- Urban Gustafsson: guitars
- Peter Östlund: guitars
- Tobias Gustafsson: drums
- Tracklist
- 01. Regorge in the Morgue
- 02. Bloodstained
- 03. They Will Burn
- 04. The Dead Awaken
- 05. Hate in a Time of War
- 06. Torturous Ingenious
- 07. Forever Damned
- 08. Shrouded in Darkness
- 09. Combat Psychosis
- 10. Requiem for the Fallen
