When Centinex split up in 2006 (but since got back together), members went on to form and help out with two intertwined acts, Interment and Demonical. Both have delivered solid efforts of Swedish death metal with Demonical having released 4 albums and Interment, two.

Centinex and Demonical founder Martin Schulman has revamped the lineup since 2011s Death Infernal and 2013s Darkness Unbound , surrounding himself with a host of former and current  Centinex, Interment and Moondark members and it shows as Chaos Manifesto sees the band’s material elevated from solid and decent examples of Swedish death metal to one of 2018s very best examples of the style.

As expected, the guitar tone is a killer Swedish buzz courtesy of Karl Daniel Lidén (Terra Tenebrosa, Cult of Luna, Katatonia) who has not rendered this tone before to my knowledge, but absolutely kills it here. But the new , veteran lineup shows their chops in the song writing department as the songs on  Chaos Manifesto are way better than anything on the prior four albums, with some moments even bordering on special and even classic status.

The major influence is still Dismember’s more melodic, solo laden, hack and slash take on the style but the production gives it some real teeth and heft.  From opener ” A Void Most Obscure” to closer ” to the digipack exclusive bonus track “Nightbringer”, the absolutely album fucking rips, with not a single weak track, note or riff. Standouts of the standouts include the album’s two longer, slower masterpieces “From Nothing” (which seems to carry strains of Hypocrisy’s “The Fourth Dimension”) and the absolutely monstrous “Välkommen undergång” (welcome downfall?) with a marching main riff, that might be one of the more seminal songs/riffs on the genre of the last few years, and certainly one of my favorite songs of the year. But a couple of the faster songs are also complete rippers such as super melodic “Torture Parade” or “Death Unfaithful”, where some slick melodic leads litter the chorus to great effect.

While Entrails arguably sit atop the heap for this genre and style, Demonical have thrown down the gauntlet to their peers, including Entrails and others, with an album that commands your attention and should command the attention of any fan of the style.

[Visit the band's website]

---

Comments