ALBUM REVIEW: Survival Of The Sickest – Bloodbath
History has taught us to treat supergroups with suspicion. Often on the spectrum between ‘glorified jam session’ and ‘vanity money-grab’, most supergroups end up as forgotten footnotes on their members’ portfolio. This received wisdom goes straight out of the window when it comes to BLOODBATH. Featuring current and former members of icons like KATATONIA, OPETH and PARADISE LOST, the world’s favourite extreme metal supergroup return with Survival Of The Sickest – their sixth album, and a periodic reminder that the members of BLOODBATH are playing the metal game in God mode.
An ominous distant-radio intro explodes into a breakneck chugging riff to open Zombie Inferno, the first single that was released to promote the album. Full of rabid tempo changes and interchanging riffs – as if to say “we’ve got an endless pile of these”, which is correct – it’s a cracking entrée to this sumptuous set menu of classic death metal. The terror doesn’t let up in Putrefying Corpse (admittedly, not as appetising a title for the gourmet cuisine metaphor) which starts off with a vicious black metal riff and machine-gun drums, only to completely change tack within seconds to a midtempo riff that could bulldoze your house if you play it too loudly. The instantly recognisable barks of NAPALM DEATH’s Barney Greenwood – one of several guests on the record – elevate the thrashy chorus, as does the solo that sounds like it was pulled straight from DEATH’s Symbolic.
BLOODBATH’s star-studded line-up more than matches the supergroup tag. Vocalist Nick Holmes (PARADISE LOST) is well and truly at home on his third release with the band, trying out different growling styles and sounding sicker than ever. He can easily stake a claim for extreme metal’s best enunciator, his lyrics of horror and gore coming through more clearly than those of some clean singers. Martin “Axe” Axenrot (ex-OPETH) delivers a devastating performance behind the drums, maintaining a sky-high ‘stroke per minute’ rate and constantly varying up the rhythm – such as in the BEHEMOTH-esque Carved where he switches the drums more or less every other bar.
The king here, of course, is His Majesty the Riff, and there is a whole dynasty competing for control. The razor sharp guitars by the ever-present Anders Nyström (KATATONIA) and new addition Tomas Åkvik (LIK – an excellent death metal band in their own right) send riff after riff like a wave of zombies in a shooter game, each one more deadly than the rest, only to exterminate them with flesh-melting solos. Alongside them, Jonas Renkse’s (KATATONIA) superbly mixed bass – an instrument that can easily be buried by the heavily distorted guitars in a lot of death metal – helps his playing shine through, buzzing brilliantly beneath the mountain of riffs and drums like OVERKILL’s D.D. Verni.
Although hailing primarily from Sweden, on this album BLOODBATH take more inspiration from their death metal brethren across the Atlantic. Dead Parade’s opening riff is pure MORBID ANGEL, while the bleak main riff of closer No God Before Me bears the hallmark of an old OBITUARY track. But ultimately, it’s a richly varied mix of BLOODBATH-esque death metal – fun, fresh, and ferocious. Born Infernal may as well have been co-produced by Super Hans, boasting quiet dissonant guitars which create a powerful sense of dread. Elsewhere, the doom-groove monster of To Die features a dramatic old-school KATATONIA solo, while the death-thrash of Affliction Of Extinction feels like the sonic form of getting beaten up in a dark alley. Each song brings something different, and the album’s 45 minutes fly by in joyously catchy brutality with enormous replay-value.
With Survival Of The Sickest, BLOODBATH are, once again, radiating effortlessness. The thought that something done in the down-time from the members’ successful main bands can be so good just drives home how ridiculously, infuriatingly talented they are. Cut them open and they bleed pure death metal – and there’s more than enough in Survival Of The Sickest to fill the whole bath.
Rating: 9/10
Survival Of The Sickest is set for release on September 9th via Napalm Records.
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