No mercy from Vomitory!
For their tenth album, In Death Throes, Tobias Gustafsson (drums, ex-Cut Up, ex-God Macabre, ex-Nifelheim), Urban Gustafsson (guitar), Erik Rundqvist (bass/vocals, ex-Cut Up), and Christian Fredriksson (guitar, Inferior) are once again collaborating with Metal Blade Records, their label for over twenty years.
They dive right in with the ferocious Rapture in Rupture, an opening track that’s already highly aggressive and breakneck in pace, making it clear from the very first moments that the band is ready to tear it up, a feeling amplified by Erik’s roars and the jagged rhythms. The Swedish touch makes the sound as wild as it is melodic on the leads, just as on For Gore and Country, which follows with the same idea: making heads bang with furious passages interspersed with groovier but still highly energetic moments. We move on to Forever Scorned, which charges right at us without hesitation, yet still offers slower, more haunting harmonics to counterbalance the violence before transitioning to Wrath Unbound, where the leads reinforce this mysterious atmosphere before striking at a brisk pace. The Old School approach is perfect for headbanging while getting swept up in the sharpest riffs, which lead into the title track In Death Throes – a song with a rather dark intro that then hits hard, even borrowing Grindcore’s most abrasive riffs. The baton is passed to Cataclysmic Fleshfront, another furious track that pulls no punches and is sure to make us want to headbang frantically while clenching our fists, taking advantage of the only calmer moment to slip in a blood-curdling solo before charging into Two and a Half Men. Here again, violence reigns supreme, with the band even offering us a few samples of sliced flesh to complement their aggressive riffs before slowing down a bit for Erased in Red, a track that opens with a bass-and-drums duet and maintains its heady mid-tempo, taking the opportunity to incorporate thrash roots before launching into virulent accelerations. The Zombie War General takes over with its infectious energy, which drives the band to redouble their efforts and make us want to move along with them even during the slower sections, then Oblivion Protocol closes out the album by unleashing one last barrage of devastating riffs in the purest tradition of raw Death Metal, not to mention that delightful little melodic touch.
With a career spanning over thirty-five years, Vomitory is one of the legends of Swedish Death Metal, and although the band is sometimes overlooked when discussing the genre, they’re as effective as ever! In Death Throes will surprise listeners with its raw power and will easily find its place in your collection.
95/100