The undisputed heirs to Dismember‘s throne (here’s hoping for a reunion after the 2022 Maryland Deathfest), Demonical is back with album number 7, and as expected, there are absolutely zero surprises or curveballs from a band that features former members of Centinex and Grave.   They can pretty much do this in their sleep.

Essentially delivering the same recipe as 2020s World Domination,  the album is 8 cuts of slicing, slightly more melodic Swedish death metal. Nothing more, nothing less. You get more of Karl Lidéns (Bloodbath, Draconian) razor-sharp, HM 2 tone, and gobs of feral snarls and galloping, cantering riffs, that all recall Dismember’s middle era, notably Death Metal and Hate Campaign.

And thankfully, unlike “Slipping Apart” from World Domination, there is no ballad-y song with experimental clean vocals. Mass Destroyer absolutely rips from the starting salvo of “We Conquer the Throne” to the closing, mid-paced rumbling double bass drenched notes of “By Hatred Bound”.

That said, some slower, more menacing songs like “Välkommen undergång” from Chaos Manifesto (arguably the best song the band has ever written, if not one of the best songs in the genre in the last decade) break up the pretty constant gait and pace of the 8 songs. The loping “Lifeslave” is the closest to “Välkommen undergång”, while the midsection of “Sun Blackened” has a killer midsection that imbues the song ending groove from “Of Fire” From Dismember’s Death Metal), and the cool, name-dropping tribute song to fallen, legendary vocalist LG Petrov (Entombed, Entombed AD, Firespawn, Comecon) “Fallen Mountain”, is appropriately a tad moodier as well.

But for the most part, the album pretty well hacks and slices for every song. Notably, when you listen to the likes of “Sun Blackened”, “Wrathspawn”, “Dödsmarsch” and especially “Cemented in Ire”, you get a bunch of killer songs that all recall the likes of “Patrol 17”, “Retaliate”,  “Ceremonial Comedy” and, “Misanthropic” from the above mentioned Dismember albums. And that’s perfectly fine with me.

Another nice addition to a good year so far in the style, with quality releases from Cryptvore, Disfuneral,  Sentient Horror, Funeral Whore and Necrom and the no doubt killer Entrails 2022 album coming soon. And while Necrom’s All Paths Are Left Here, is probably a better overall album it comes with some ‘complications’. Demonical is a safer, battle-tested, veteran, less controversial option, and Mass Destroyer is damn solid as well.

[Visit the band's website]

---

Comments