Review Summary: Punishment reclaimed in blood. Vomitory’s ‘Opus Mortis VIII’ is yet another solid output.
As the years go by, consistency can be as much of pleasing factor as it can be a negative issue. Usually when there is no growth or progression from one effort to the next the same re-hashing of ideas lead to the listener’s disappointment. Fortunately for Vomitory’s eighth studio album,
Opus Mortis VIII presents the listener with a highly solid and enjoyable effort. Naturally, comparisons will be made to their previous albums (especially those that are a little more recent;
Carnage Euphoria,
Terrorize Brutalize Sodomize) and while
Opus Mortis VIII displays a lot of the stylistic choices of not only of the band's previous workings, but also of the genre as a whole. Whilst this is usually portrayed as a bad thing, rest assured that Vomitory simply does everything better. As listeners recognise the similarities between the albums, it’s also important to note the development (a sort of maturing) in the band’s overall sound.
Everything is what listeners’ can expect from an established vintage death metal band. Right off the bat, “Regorge In The Morgue” displays all of the traits that their fans enjoy. Hard hitting riffs, up tempo pummelling drum work and deep growls all join the fray establishing a solid and enjoyable listen.
Excellently consistent musical talent runs cohesively with an intelligent structuring of tracks that mixes in subtle changes to keep the music interesting. Setting Vomitory apart from their fellow “death metallers” is their ability to keep everything incredibly similar yet maintain the listeners’ attention throughout. To do this they combine catchy rhythm sections as well as the typical (and expected) traits of the genre adding interesting yet diverse leads to the music, slipping these leads under the onslaught of guitar riffage without overpowering the rest of the music. These thoughtful melodic sections add another layer to Vomitory’s music. One example of this can be found in the bridge/solo section of “They Will Burn”. The section is not an overdone by unnecessary amounts of flamboyant string wankery; rather climbing notes used with dissonant tones chime into the listeners’ ears drawing them in before hitting them hard with another return of your everyday Vomitory riffing. Put all this together and listeners’ here have a highlight.
Further displaying the band’s song writing talents comes the final track “Requiem To The Fallen”. This track is one of the faster songs on
Opus Mortis VIII and an excellent end to the album. While the track is already fast paced, there is other features that add to this effect. The tremolo picking combined with double bass drum kick notes and even vocal phasing all ad to the faster felt tempo. However, contrast is even shown here. The tracks passages switch from the before mentioned tremolo sections to straight forward pounding riffs and blast beating phrases. Vomitory sho the listener that simple can be both effective
and interesting.
The album is much of the same thing throughout its entity.
Opus Mortis VIII is a no frills quality death metal record. Everything you can expect from a death metal act is here – The difference here is that it’s done at a higher level.
