ALBUM REVIEW: Tales Of Madness – Wombbath

As we approach the end of this woeful year, what better new release to play us out than WOMBBATH’s Tales Of Madness. A raw, traditionalist cut of old-school Swedish death metal, to many metalheads its arrival will come as a comforting reminder of familiarity, the musical equivalent of a soothing night cap to see off the raging house fire that is 2020.

A seminal band of the early 90s death metal scene, WOMBBATH are very much a cult act, one beloved by the purists but who never quite achieved the canonical success of ENTOMBED or DISMEMBER. With Tales Of Madness, they’re celebrating their 30th anniversary, so have re-recorded five tracks from their early days as well as three new ones, including The Fleshy Existence Of Man, which is set to be a precursor to a forthcoming 2021 release.

For the WOMBBATH faithful, Tales Of Madness will come as a delight. It’s never anything but intriguing to hear a band re-record their own material, even if the results can be controversial, such as IN FLAMES’ recent choice to re-record tracks from their iconic 2000 release Clayman. Fortunately, Tales Of Madness doesn’t suffer from the same mistakes. Its first three tracks are taken from WOMBBATH‘s 1992 Brutal Mights demo which, though features a certain level of grim charm, is pretty rough around the edges. Its reproduction here gives the songs much more bite, making them sharper and tighter than their ‘92 counterparts.

Tracks The Grave and the brilliantly-titled Lavatory Suicide Remains are also re-recordings, the former was the first track ever written by WOMBBATH whilst the latter was a cut off 1994’s Lavatory EP. This version of Lavatory Suicide Remains is the most drastically reworked of the whole bunch, to the point where, besides its acoustic opening and melodic motif, it’s pretty unrecognisable. This poses an interesting question about these sorts of revistings, are they supposed to show reverence for the source material? Or are the band entitled to mess around however they want with their past creations?

The three newest tracks are the strongest, possessing the finest riffs, most kinetic tempos, and highest level of intensity. Title track Tales Of Madness is exceptional, featuring a mid-section of layered, well-composed grandeur, while closer The Fleshy Existence Of Man is a track early-90’s WOMBBATH would never have been capable of, featuring an ambitious structure comprised of varying, surprising parts. This juxtaposition of the distant past and forthcoming future satisfyingly reveals itself as Tales Of Madness plays out, and gives the album much greater depth and purpose than is initially apparent.

Managing to sufficiently justify its own existence while also providing fine traditionalist death metal entertainment, WOMBBATH have created a cracker of a release with Tales Of Madness. It’s sheer enthusiasm and joie de vivre makes it the perfect album to blast as we exit 2020, as well as an accidental metaphor for our current situation. Like WOMBBATH, let’s not be too precious about the past and step into the future with our best foot forward.

Rating: 8/10

Tales Of Madness is out now via Transcending Obscurity Records.

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