ALBUM REVIEW: All Heads Are Gonna Roll – Vomitory

A decade ago, Swedish death metal legends VOMITORY sadly announced that they were disbanding, leaving behind a legacy of eight albums packed full of primal and lethal death metal. While the aftermath of the band splitting up gave us the underrated death metallers CUT UP, who featured VOMITORY members Erik Rundqvist (bass/vocals) and  Tobias Gustafsson (drums) alongside guitarist Anders Bertilsson (who played live with VOMITORY) and recorded two albums on Metal Blade, both of which are well worth checking out, the metal world was definitely left with a VOMITORY shaped hole as their precise attack had overjoyed fans of bloodthirsty death metal for the past 15 years.

Fast forward to 2023 and that hole has thankfully been filled with the return of VOMITORY and the band have certainly made up for lost time with their long awaited comeback album All Heads Are Gonna Roll. The record is undoubtedly aptly named as that is exactly what threatens to happen as you listen to the album, such is its headbangingly brutal brilliance; in fact it sounds more like a promise than a threat.

VOMITORY resolutely waste no time in the grand declaration that they are back as the songs of All Heads Are Gonna Roll absolutely explode with energy from start to finish. This is brutal death metal first and foremost, of course, but the band have a few different sounds this time around and they sound all the better for it as they incorporate massive grooves and D-beat flourishes throughout the tracks on the album.

Bloodthirsty cuts like Ode To The Meat Saw, The Deepest Tomb and Dead World in particular are classic VOMITORY, but they also sound as vital as they do commanding with a forward thinking take on the band’s classic sound with Rundqvist‘s vocals sounding even better than ever as he barks out the band’s bloodthirsty lyrics alongside some utterly lethal guitar playing courtesy of Peter Östlund and Urban Gustafsson as the primal rhythms of Gustafsson combine with Rundqvist‘s low-end bass grooves. The production on All Heads Are Gonna Roll plays a big part in this it seems as it sounds so massive and the energy that emits as you listen is positively spellbinding and as formidable as it is brutal.

All Heads Are Gonna Roll is a massive comeback album from VOMITORY and it actually does feel like they have never left, such is the immediacy and energy of this record, with the band’s brutal metal anthems feeling so familiar but fresh at the same time. With this being their first album in 12 years and All Heads Are Gonna Roll being so strong, let’s hope VOMITORY don’t leave it as long for another new album next time. This band are back with a vengeance and they mean brutal business once more.

Rating: 8/10

All Heads Are Gonna Roll is set for release on May 26th via Metal Blade Records.

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