Bloodbath "Nightmares Made Flesh" CD
[Century Media]
Ahhh, back again is this superstar Swedish death metal outfit with one of the strongest lineups you could ever imagine.  Changing things up this time around in more ways than one, Peter Tägtgren has replaced Mikael Åkerfeldt on vocals, and Dan Swanö has abandoned the drums for both guitar and bass, which is where he should be!  Martin Axenrot is then behind the kit, with standbys Anders Nyström and Jonas Renske rounding out the lineup (also handling both guitar and bass duties)... thus making for a group whose collective efforts span the likes of Hypocrisy, Edge of Sanity, Nightingale, Katatonia, October Tide, Diabolical Masquerade, Witchery, and Satanic Slaughter - among even others!  But that's not the only difference here, not at all.  Whereas "Resurrection Through Carnage" was a blatant ode to the classic Swedish death metal sound, this record is a far different beast, certainly maintaining a thread of that patented Swedish era, but drawing just as much from all sorts of other death metal influences, and lending a contemporary spin to the writing that ends up sounding pretty fresh, so this isn't a throwback kind of record at all.  The members definitely lend their own individual flavors to the songs, as there are plenty of Swanö-isms that hearken back to some of Edge of Sanity's older work, as well as certain little distant leads or tapping riffs akin to early Katatonia within a straight death metal context (check out "Outnumbering the Day").  But then there are also instances reminiscent of various points in the careers of Death or Carcass, to cite but a few, and tracks like "Eaten" are among those more geared towards bringing in tastefully groovy playing that follows more of a surprisingly midpaced churn.  A strong vocal performance from Tägtgren definitely bodes well for the material, coming in with a forceful lower register without being a true growl, so it doesn't seem forced at all, and you can actually understand a good portion of the lyrics.  "Cancer of the Soul" opens straight away with some fast and mildly technical riffing complete with a few little pinch harmonics and a flurry of changes that all help to indicate that in no way is this a rerun of "Resurrection Through Carnage" whatsoever.  "Year of the Cadaver Race" is among my favorite tracks as there's more of a rocked out swagger to the way the riffs wind around, not unlike some of the finer points of Entombed's "Clandestine", and not without an unexpectedly sparse clean break.  Closer "Blood Vortex" is another crushing piece, a little darker and more dissonant than some of the others, but very consistently delivered and really memorable in its quality of riffs and pulsing tempo.  There are just a ton of solos on the record as well, which is definitely cool, especially since they don't stick with the same style of lead playing either, it's just as varied as the rhythm work.  The recording is great.  I don't really have any complaints at all.  Everything is loud, clear, and forceful.  I'm sure there are certain listeners that will complain that this is too polished, but fuck that.  The guitar tones are thick and full but still possess some texture, the drums sound better than average by today's standards, the vocals are crisp and well enunciated, etc.  You can't specifically make out much of the bass, but that's no big deal, and damn... the eerie little clean breaks sound almost absurdly incredible!  Two tracks from the band's demo are included as bonus tracks, which doesn't necessarily make sense since the quality is definitely lacking compared to the new tunes.  Listenable, sure, but it sounds like there was some tape warping or something, so it's definitely rough.  So... for those two expect stripped down brutal death metal with a thrashy edge and a raw recording that probably would've sounded better if the source data wasn't slightly worn.  Wes Benscoter handled the artwork and as usual it's a dark and gruesome approach, and this time most of the text is handwritten which looks pretty cool.  Of course the lyrics are death metal through and through, with tales of murder, destruction, and then some, but honestly the content's not always as over the top and cheesy as one might expect... not always, heh.  Overall I think this change in direction will fare well for the band in the end, because you can only retread the same classic path so many times before it might lose steam (for both the listeners and the band members), though this initial transition does lose some steam on its own simply because the songwriting's not consistently memorable and can lack some of the energy that the last record offered.  I imagine they're still coming into their own though, as Dan Swanö's simply one of the greatest songwriters ever in my opinion, and most everything Renske and Nyström touch is worth supporting as well.  So perhaps the fact that I'm an immense fan of these guys outside of Bloodbath creates more pressure in my eyes for them to succeed within Bloodbath.  But regardless, this is a solid record, and I'll look forward to seeing where they end up next time. (7/10)
Running time - 53:11, Tracks: 14
[Notable tracks: Cancer of the Soul, Brave New Hell, Year of the Cadaver Race, Blood Vortex]
Century Media - http://www.centurymedia.com

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