UMUR
"The Reprobate" is the 2nd full-length studio album by Swedish death metal act Firespawn. The album was released through Century Media Records in April 2017. Firespawn is a project band featuring several rather prolific Swedish musicians in lead vocalist LG Petrov (Entombed/Entombed A.D.), guitarist Victor Brandt (Entombed/Entombed A.D.), guitarist Fredrik Folklare (Necrophobic, Unleashed), bassist Alex Friberg (Necrophobic), and drummer Matte Modin (Defleshed, Dark Funeral). There have been no lineup changes since the release of the band´s debut full-length studio album "Shadow Realms (2015)".
Stylistically "The Reprobate" is pretty much a continuation of the death metal style introduced on "Shadow Realms (2015)". It´s old school at it´s core, but it´s not too derivative of past glories. With LG Petrov helming the project (and Brandt on guitars) an Entombed influence is inevitable, but he is predominantly a bit more growling and brutal when singing for Firespawn than he is when singing for his main act (and unfortunately also a bit one-dimensional and monotone in his delivery). The instrumental part of the music generally doesn´t sound like any particular Swedish or foreign country death metal act, but it´s not the most original sounding death metal style either (the main riff on the title track for example loans heavily from Morbid Angel). While the music is varied enough with great rhythmic changes, powerful riffs, and great melodic lead guitar work, you probably won´t come away from the album feeling like you´ve heard something you haven´t listened to before.
It´s not a major issue though, and one of the main reasons for that is the high level musicianship. Considering the involved parties, that´s not a huge surprise, but it deserves to be mentioned that these guys are incredibly well playing and deliver their music with great passion and conviction. "The Reprobate" is well produced too, and upon conclusion it´s a good quality death metal release. It may not shake the foundation of the death metal genre, but it´s another proof of how great the Swedes generally are when it comes to playing the style. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.