UMUR
"Fiendish Regression" is the 6th full-length studio album by Swedish death metal act Grave. The album was released through Century Media Records in August 2004. It´s the second album since the band´s long hiatus ended with the release of "Back From the Grave" in 2002. A significant lineup change has taken place since the release of "Back From the Grave (2002)" as drummer and founding member Jensa Paulsson has left and has been replaced by Pelle Ekegren. The remaining part of the lineup who recorded "Back From the Grave (2002)" is intact.
Stylistically the material on "Fiendish Regression" pretty much continue the old school Swedish death metal sound of the predecessor, but the relatively dominant groove element of "Back From the Grave (2002)" is scaled back a bit on "Fiendish Regression", making it a bit more "straight" in terms of old school death metal authenticity. When that is said the contemporary sounding production still reveals that this is not an early 90s death metal release and there are still some groove elements left in the band´s sound. To my ears it´s actually a bit of a shame that they cut down on the use of the brutal grooves, because that was the part of their sound on "Back From the Grave (2002)" that I felt made them stand out a bit. "Fiendish Regression" is a bit more one-dimensional and the tracks seldom stand out (something which isn´t helped out by the one-dimensional growling vocals). The pace is predominantly mid tempo and it´s only very rarely the band play faster parts.
"Fiendish Regression" is overall still a quality death metal release by Grave though. Personally I just find it less appealing than it´s direct predecessor and also less memorable. It features quite a few redeeming qualities in the high level musicianship and in the powerful and detailed sound production, but the songwriting could have prospered from more variation. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.