UMUR
"The Spectral Wars" is the debut full-length studio album by Swedish death metal act Grisly. The album was released through Xtreem Music in September 2018. Grisly was founded in 2014 and features the three-piece lineup Dennis Blomberg (bass), Henke Lundgren (drums), and Rogga Johansson (guitars, vocals). Especially the latter is quite prolific on the Swedish (and the international) death metal scene with his many different projects: Down Among The Dead Men, Paganizer, Demiurg, and Ribspreader, just to mention a few of the projects he is (or has been) involved in.
So it´s not really a surprise to find Johansson involved in yet another death metal project. And what´s even less surprising is that the music style on "The Spectral Wars" is old school Swedish death metal, as that´s the style of music many of Johansson´s projects are based upon. In the case of "The Spectral Wars" it´s the most simple and predominantly mid-paced old school Swedish death metal style that Grisly have chosen to play.
There´s nothing particularly original about the content of the album, but it´s certainly both well performed and well produced. The first couple of tracks actually filled me with great joy and left me with a "hell yeah" on my lips, but it´s like the band either run out of ideas, or the music style becomes a bit too one-dimensional fast, because about halfway through the album I can feel my thrill fizzing out. Not that the latter part of the album is bad by any means, and I´m still entertained while the album plays, but the promise of the first couple of tracks is not completely fulfilled. "The Spectral Wars" is still a good quality death metal album though and a 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.