ALBUM REVIEW: Agma – Wombbath
On the final day of 2021, Swedish Death Metal stalwarts WOMBBATH offered up Agma, their fifth charred and blood spattered offering since their resurrection in 2015. The band consider this seldom seen death metal double album one of their most exhilarating and refreshing, but as it has only been a year since they released two albums in the same year, 2020’s Choirs Of The Fallen and Tales Of Madness, and considering it has now been almost 30 years since SweDeath’s heyday, are these grizzled veterans simply flogging a dead horse?
In a word, no. From its opening moments Agma seems an engaging and ambitious beast. It comes tearing out of the gate with The Law Of Everything, which sets the pace for what’s to come with its battering, riff-heavy opening salvo and reminiscence of fellow Swedes BLOODBATH. One thing that becomes immediately and sharply apparent is the sheer level of technical proficiency on display; everything gels and gives the impression of a highly polished death metal machine, toeing the line effortlessly between abject savagery and haunting melody in an excellent fashion.
We are then exposed to early highlight At The Giant’s Feet. Punchy and aggressive, this is a more straightforward take on the muscular savagery offered previously. Notably, this also marks our first exposure to Agma’s interesting inclusion of cleaner, snarled CATTLE DECAPITATION style vocals. This becomes something of a running theme throughout the album, rearing its ugly head in later tracks Inquisition Reborn, Misantropi Och Förakt and On A Path of Repulsion. It’s an evocative and charismatic inclusion, one that both stirs the blood and sticks in your mind long after the album has finished.
Speaking of things that are not often found in the traditional death metal wheelhouse, it would be remiss not to bring up the violin. At numerous points throughout the album the instrument’s unmistakeable mournful whine, played expertly by guitarist Thomas von Wachenfeldt, is introduced. Serving as an atmospheric break like in Breathe In The Flames, or as a creepy, bewitching intro as found in The Age Of Death, it is draped languidly between and across the slabbish riff work, infusing it with emotion and allowing it to stand out and proudly apart from its contemporaries.
When considering Agma as a whole, it is clearly an attempt at melding old and new. WOMBBATH have made some bold choices with this album, with the obvious nods to the likes of old-guard favourites DISMEMBER and ENTOMBED featured prominently, but also blended with subtler recognition of newer heavyweights such as CATTLE DECAPITATION and even the totally unexpected inclusion of classical influence.
As a result, what we have on our hands is a clear and successful attempt to drag that tried-and-true formula kicking and screaming into the hellscape that is the 21st century, one that will both delight and provide food for thought to many a devotee of old-school, rotten death metal. It may not necessarily be a reinvented wheel, but with Agma, WOMBBATH have certainly shown that the old beast still has a few tricks up its sleeve yet.
Rating: 8/10
Agma is out now via Transcending Obscurity Records.
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