Sweden’s Paganizer returns with their 13^th album, Flesh Requiem.  This is one of Rogga Johansson’s main acts in the numerous amount of bands he is actively in, which is a lot!!  Paganizer has morphed over the years into a quality Swedish death metal act, with the HM-2 buzzsaw guitar sound.  It is not as bludgeoning as other acts playing this type of metal, and at times, it is a bit more melodic. Rogga, suffice to say, knows this style of metal rather well.  They’ve had a bit of and up and up-and-down discography, however, their last several albums have been great.  I really enjoyed their last one, from 2022, Beyond the Macabre.

“Life of Decay” immediately starts with a fast paced, not quite blast beat pace with Rogga’s throaty vox all over this song.  The production is in your face.  The guitar tone sounds terrific and the galloping moments are classic.  The doomy slow down about 90 seconds in is excellent as the guitar solos and harmonies erupt all around us.  Strong opening number.

The title track has a lot of doomy metal moments and the section at the 1.19 part is excellent.  Rogga lets out a vintage Celtic Frost, “Ugghhh” and the song gets right into a tasty galloping moment.  This song pounds and Matthias Fiebig’s double bass drums at the 2.40 mid-paced section is vicious as Rogga lets out some anguished vocals.  Martin Klasén provides the bass guitar and you can hear the bass underneath all the heaviness.  This song has that swede melo-death sound perfectly with nods to Desultory and In Flames.  Think early 90’s inspired for reference.  There is a lot of melody and some intricate guitar work going on.  I really enjoy bands putting forth an effort to make their title track a strong number.  This is no exception.

“Viking Supremacy” right out of the starting gates begins with that hyper-fast death thrash beat before the galloping moments take over.  The song then goes back and forth between these two speeds with Rogga’s enunciated vocals sounding really good.  You do not need a lyric sheet – bonus!!  Some other tempo shifts take us to some slower groovier moments and the isolated drumming at the 2-minute mark is a thing of beauty.  Just as the guitars fade out the drums start with that galloping speed, before the rest of the instruments join in.  This is my favorite part of the album.  It’s frickin’ awesome and classic all over it.

The rest of the album is more of the same.  If you have enjoyed Paganizer’s previous efforts, especially their last several, you will enjoy Flesh Requiem.  Rogga knows death metal, knows how to write catchy music and knows how to surround himself, with all of his various bands, with quality musicians.  Flesh Requiem has a nice production.  Organic, not processed and it sports a nice mix to boot.  The album cover is well done and all the nods to the old school of yore has my fist in the air on these songs.  Keeping each of the songs to about 3 ½ minutes is a smart choice, as they have more of a punch to them.  Some of the songs get a bit samey, however that’s to be expected from the band at this juncture.  This is a real fun and catchy album!

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