TORMENTED “ROTTEN DEATH” ALBUM. 2011 LISTENABLE RECORDS.

This beast of an album was originally released in 2009 on Iron Fist Records. It was another strike of ancient and rotting death metal that has now become so part of the norm in the underground. This strike was deadly though. Tormented became one of my favorites once I heard this monster and then also their split with another favorite of mine Bombs Of Hades released this year. This is top notch Swedish death metal madness that crushes and kills with the best of them. Heavy and ripping, done in the olden tradition by some members of Edge Of Sanity, Marduk and even Scar Semmetry(?) Regardless of some who will say “members of crappy, defunct or washed up bands jumping on the bandwagon”, this album KILLS!

The title track is massive with the slow/mid build up and the samples of screams in the background. It gets all heavy and then once the fast banging starts, it doesn’t let up. It is a relentless attack all the way through! Great song! “Vengeance From Beyond The Grave” has a classic skank beat driven, heavy as fuck chug to it that just SLAUGHTERS all in sight. It’s the perfect mid paced banger that brings the album to a down and dirty level, in the sewer that is. “Blood Of The Undead” starts off with some double bass mayhem that then gets fast as fuck with the killer one/two beats. I love the parts where the drums, vocals and bass stop and it just the guitar, the riff RIPS shit to shreds. The slower double bass part/break towards the end KILLS. It’s nice and heavy. “Burning Torment” has the punches of doom to start it off. It gets all fast and ripping after that. If you look in the dictionary under Swedish death metal, you will see THIS song as the example. It has punches and 2 or 3 other riffs in the song. This is all that is needed to kill you.

“Death Owns The Night” starts the 2nd half of this masterpiece off. This will be the 2nd example of how this death noise should sound in that dictionary that I speak of. But then again, the whole album is an example of this! Bahahahaha. This one is a little slower paced, still has the fast one/two beats, but more of a slowed down/skank version, which is just fine by me. It fits these set of riffs together perfectly! “Come Back From The Dead” is next up. There is more horrific fast banging going on here. Brutal drum rolls on the chorus parts! “Drowning In Decaying Flesh” brings the total terror with a creepy intro and some chainsaw guitar lines. This band has harmonies and melodies to their death noise, but it becomes a part of it and mixes well with the murderous riffs. Plus those more melodic parts are totally EVIL. They are dark and grab hold of your neck. “Tomb Of Corpses” is another fast banger that doesn’t fuck around. The production on this album is quite impressive. It sounds like it was done all live in a graveyard. It is clear as far as hearing the instruments, but oppressive and crushing at the same time. “Reversed Funeral” brings the undead festivities to a close. This is the fastest ripper on here at first. It has a riff similar to the band Traumatic and their song “A Putrid Reek Of Mangled Remains” during the intro fats part. The song then slows down a bit to a mid paced banger style. Heavy double bass is all over the place. This is a killer song to close this fucker out.

The vocals of Dread Axelsson are impressive. Aggressive and throat shredding, they are understandable. With the sound and the songwriting, you have a deadly combination of total death metal purity, Swedish DOD style! This was one of the top albums of a couple of years ago and it is a top listening experience of today! You can get the original release through Abyss Records. This is for the collectors. Or you can get the re-release through Listenable Records. This is for you fancy fucks. Regardless, go get this album NOW! ESSENTIAL DEATH METAL!