Fuck me! What did I just listen to?
This was my initiation into the Vomitory horde, and I’m not going to lie to the faithful readers of the CRANNK album reviews… I fucking loved it!
Talk about power in death metal — Vomitory have it in spades on their new album, In Death Throes.
I’m so late to the Vomitory party that I feel like a total dick for not listening in before now. I did the same with Annihilator — didn’t listen to them for the longest time, then when I actually sat down and listened to their music, I was fucking hooked and did a deep dive on all of their past and present albums. Over the coming days, I will do the same with Vomitory.
In Death Throes took me on a ride I wasn’t expecting. Not that I had any expectations — I went into listening to this album the same way I would with any album I review, with zero expectations. But rarely do they slap me in the face harder than In Death Throes did. I’m still recovering from the impact of this brutally heavy album.
And that’s what I love about In Death Throes — the unapologetic and unrepentant nature of the beast that is Vomitory.
Original members from the olde times of 1989, guitarist and founder Urban Gustafsson and drummer Tobias Gustafsson, are joined by bassist/vocalist Erik Rundqvist, who has been in the band since 1997, and lead guitarist Christian Fredriksson to form the modern version of Vomitory. Uncompromising hardly begins to describe what In Death Throes brings to the Swedish death metal table.
The sadistic overture, paired with slick, insatiable solos — and you all know by now I’m a fucking sucker for solos — by the latest addition to Vomitory, Christian Fredriksson, the sort of lead guitarist any band would kill for, are nothing short of scintillating.
The drumming of Tobias Gustafsson is FUCKING HEAVY AS FUCK!
This guy is probably a couple of years older than me and is still punishing those drums like they wronged him in a previous lifetime. Bravo, Tobias, bravo! You simply can’t have an insanely brilliant band without an incredibly gifted drummer, and Tobias has all the weapons Vomitory will ever need in its armoury.
Rounding out the rhythm section is bassist/vocalist Erik Rundqvist. His guttural growling sets the death metal tone for In Death Throes, and his bass work is beyond this realm of rhythmic reason. Erik creates the atmosphere of carnage and brutality that Vomitory is known for, and I still feel fucking foolish that I’m just finding out about this now!
The ruthless riffs from Urban Gustafsson on In Death Throes are rampantly merciless, revealing a relentless intensification of the Vomitory verve. Gustafsson’s greatness is an unstoppable machine, once thought gone forever after a six-year disbandment, now bursting out of the gate on all cylinders with their second album in the last three years, and tenth overall.
A 37-year juggernaut that I hadn’t listened to until now.
I’m really starting to feel like the dickhead who missed out, but the best thing is, I get to listen to it all at once. Glass half full, I guess.
In Death Throes is an absolute must — not only for European fans of Swedish death metal, but any fan of metal, full stop. This album is begging to be heard by as many of you maniacal metalheads as humanly fucking possible.
I’m stoked that I got my chance. Now I’m on a mission to seek out the rest of the Vomitory catalogue.
If I were you, I’d do the same.
Line-Up
Erik Rundqvist – vocals, bass
Urban Gustafsson – guitar
Christian Fredriksson – lead guitar
Tobias Gustafsson – drums
Order
http://metalblade.com/vomitory
Band Links
https://www.vomitory.net/
https://www.facebook.com/vomitoryband
https://www.instagram.com/vomitoryband/
