Bloodbath "Unblessing the Purity"

Unblessing the Purity is four songs of heavy, churning death metal with a nice, balanced split between shredding riffs and blast beats, and crushing, double bass-fueled grooves. Aside from the guitar solos and dark, melodic segues, Bloodbath doesn't let any frills, bells or whistles hamper their music's barreling energy -- it's all balls, all the time. And while a lot of similarly straightforward death metal loses me with its sheer technicality and utter lack of hooks, there's something subtly catchy and accessible about Unblessing the Purity. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it probably goes back to the concise songwriting, forceful riffs and big recording quality. It also doesn't hurt that the band features Opeth singer Mikael Åkerfeldt's monstrously powerful vocals. (I wish my throat was capable of creating such hellish noises.) I'm the first to admit that the artwork and song titles reek of stereotypical death metal, but Unblessing the Purity is surprisingly (or not, considering the band's extensive credentials) solid and entertaining.

Bloodbath - Weak Aside

Grab a copy here.