Vomitory - Opus Mortis VIII
It’s astonishing when you stop and realize how quickly time flies. Consider that Sweden’s Vomitory have been at it for well over 15 years! It seems like Raped in Their Own Blood just hit the shelves yesterday. These Swedes have always been a serviceable source for high quality, grinding Death Metal, churning out albums at a workmanlike pace, yet somehow always lacking that pure anthem. That “Maze of Torment,” that “Twisted Truth,” or that “Reborn in Blasphemy.” Well with album number eight, they have shed much of their trademark speed and brutality in search for that anthem, and the end result is their best effort since the aforementioned debut. Maybe it finally just hit them - boy, we sure do listen to Realm of Chaos and The Rack way more than that new Abysmal Dawn - because the shift towards melody and dynamics at slower tempos is undeniable and more than welcome. Sure there is still speed and of course it is heavy as fuck, and it’s not like they never wrote a decent tune in the past, but with Opus Mortis VIII, the riff comes first. “Regorge in the Morgue” opens the album with a catchy two and a half minute stomp that wouldn’t sound out of place on your favorite Ribspreader album. The next song to grab you by the balls is “The Dead Awaken,” which may finally be the achievement of their anthem. It is without a doubt the best song they’ve ever written, powerfully showcasing all the band have up their sleeve in a quick 5 minutes. Follow that up with “Hate in a Time of War” and it’s Slayeresque clean intro, and you’ve got quite a one-two punch mid-album. “Shrouded in Darkness” is the last song to leave an impression, paying homage to the greatness of Bolt Thrower with war hymn melodies intact over that slow crawl. Every band claims that they’re the most proud of their newest material at the time, and in Vomitory’s case they damn well should be.
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