Stuvemark isn’t done with us yet.
Well known in Sweden’s Death Metal scene, Håkan Stuvemark (Wombbath, Consumption, Never the Dead, Leper Colony, Ophidian, Ribspreader, Rex Demonus…) is offering us a compilation of tracks released under his own name, called Amassed, in 2025.
The drums are handled by his comrades Jon Rudin (Leper Colony, Never the Dead, Rex Demonus, Ribspreader, ex-Wombbath…) and Rob Otic (ex-Rex Demonus) depending on the track.
We kick off with Into the Never, a pure product of aggressive Swedish Death Metal that combines fast riffs, scathing leads, blasts, and furious roars at a high tempo, but which also surprises us with a chorus where the mix becomes more imposing, almost majestic, contrasting with the rest of the track and with Bleeder, which offers us a dose of HM-2 with an unapologetic Old School mix. Don’t even try to listen to this track if you’re not a fan of the 90s Death Metal scene, as it’s so raw, both in terms of the chainsaw-like rhythm and the more disturbing leads that appear from time to time. Then it’s the screaming harmonics of Deathbringer that will have us banging our heads at full speed. The infernal tempo allows the frenetic drums to be extremely effective in framing the vocals, then it’s up to Dismembered Souls to roll in and crush us in proper fashion, taking advantage of accelerations to give even more impact to its riffs, but also to the calmer choruses. The sound gradually fades out, but Lords of Uncreation follows suit and unleashes itself in turn, alternating between fast passages and suffocating slow moments under a thick, fat sound, also incorporating some disturbing noises. We move on to Torment of the Wretched, which offers much the same brutal approach with a few touches of complexity, but the bulk of the song is dedicated to pure violence, as evidenced by the long, hoarse screams that are also found on Where Hounds Never Sleep, as well as oppressive and almost morbid moments. We return to a very dirty mix for Where the Demons Feed and its touches of doom present in the introduction, then the rhythm accelerates, slowing down only for a nightmarish solo before giving way to Blessed Storm (chaos reborn), the last composition, which wastes no time in rolling over us in turn, while allowing lead parts to blend into the onslaught, even bringing an epic touch to the final.
Although Håkan Stuvemark is no stranger to success, given his impressive CV, Amassed is a real triumph! Very violent but also always thoughtful, his riffs are sure to get heads banging this year!
90/100
