Swedish band Vomitory have been releasing quality death metal since 1996. Some would argue it but Vomitory has remained one of the most consistent bands this side of the genre. Vomitory are back again with the same Old School Death Metal they have been churning out for years, but something in the mix of their music makes it fresh and interesting at all times. One thing guareenteed if it’s Vomitory there is never a dull moment.
The album kicks off with a great opener “The Carnage Rages On.” The guitar tone is a very thick and heavy, gutturals kick in as well as blastbeats. This song has some real nice semi-technical riffs, they all mesh together very well. At about 2:22 one of my favorite riffs on the entire record kicks in, truly awe inspiring guitarwork for this early in the album. This album has its fair some chugging, but at most times its kept at a minimum. Somehow the band manages to remain heavy but catchy at the same time, the tone is probably the best tone they have had throughout their whole career. Some of the solos are more melodic than usual, for example the solo in “A Lesson In Virulence” is extremely melodic but it somehow manages to fit with the brutal song that was built around it.
Erik Rundqvist is at his vocal prime with this record. His growls are more evil and punishing than ever, and his sinister shrieks are thrown in very rarely but when they are added to the mix they are sicker than ever before. Some may say his vocal abilitys hold the band back, I personally think he fits the bill perfect, with his semi-old school guttural method over the blastbeats and infeectious riffs pouring out the amp like an ever flowing stream whats not to love. I’m not a fan of vocal layering in particular but the layering on “Possessed” sounds as evil as you could ever imagine.
Getting a break from blastbeats while listening to “Carnage Euphoria” is a rare thing, which may be tiring to some, but when the blastbeats do come to an end some good grooves are created, which is never really a bad thing. Throughout the album there is not one bad song, sure not all of them are perfect they have their flaws but every song is listenable to say the least. “Deadlock” is probably the fastest song on the record, the song features very fast thrash style riffing along with Erik’s traditional trademark vocal styling, alongside all that it also features my favorite solo off the album. The closer “Great Deceiver” has the most melodic section in the whole album, the opening riff could’ve convinced you that you went from listening to Vomitory to jamming out to some Gothenburg, but the song quickly falls back into the Vomitory groove, the closer features another great shred style solo and falls into a deadly rhythm, which runs until the song fades out ending the album.
Minus the few flaws this album does have, I would recommend this to any fan of Death Metal and I would go as far to say that this is an essential slab of death metal. Overall I give this album a 4.5/5, though the drumming is good I think that it was the only thing that took away from the album being flawless, the drumming at points can make the record seem very tiring, the main example of this is in the son “Possessed.”
