UMUR
"...and You Will Obey Me" is the 3rd full-length studio album by Swedish/British death metal act Down Among the Dead Men. The album was released through Transcending Obscurity Records in June 2018. It´s the successor to "Exterminate! Annihilate! Destroy!" from 2015. Down Among the Dead Men was formed in 2013 by prolific Swedish musician Rogga Johansson (Paganizer, Demiurg, Ribspreader, The Grotesquery...among others) and Benediction and former Bolt Thrower vocalist Dave Ingram. They released their self-titled debut full-length studio album in 2013. On this release the drums are played by session drummer Erik Bevenrud, while Johansson handles all rhythm guitars and bass and Ingram performs vocals. Lead guitars are played by session guitarist Kjetil Lynghaug.
Including the latter mentioned on "...and You Will Obey Me" was definitely a clever move as his leads and other contributions to the music make "...and You Will Obey Me" a more varied release than the two preceding releases by Down Among the Dead Men. Stylistically it´s otherwise more of the same hardcore/punk infused old school death metal which the band also played on the two predecessors. Johansson as always delivers strong and brutal riffs and Ingram once again proves why he is often counted among the most legendary lead vocalists in the death metal scene. His performance here is among his strongest to date. His growling vocals are brutal but still intelligible and he always writes clever and interesting lyrics. The drumming is predominantly hardcore/punk influenced D-beats and other similar drumming styles.
"...and You Will Obey Me" features 10 tracks and a total playing time of 30:33 minutes which is perfect for this type of release. It´s short, sharp, and brutal, and while it´s definitely in the varied end of hardcore/punk infused death metal releases, a longer playing time and more tracks would have lessened the impact of the album and maybe even have contributed to making it a tedious affair, but that´s fortunately not the case here. Also featuring a powerful, raw, and detailed sound production, there are very few complaints from me regarding "...and You Will Obey Me" and a 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.