UMUR
"The Lupine Anathema" is the 4th full-length studio album by multi-national death metal act The Grotesquery. The album was released through Xtreem Music in April 2018. It´s the successor to "Curse of the Skinless Bride" from 2015 and features the same lineup who recorded the predecessor. Rogga Johansson (guitars), Johan Berglund (bass), and Brynjar Helgetun (drums), and Kam Lee (vocals). The latter is known for his involvement in several acts, but probably mostly for being the lead vocalist in the legendary US death metal act Massacre. The other three are quite prolific on the Swedish death metal scene. Especially Rogga Johansson who are involved in multible acts like Down Among the Dead Men, Ribspreader, Paganizer, Putrevore, and Johansson & Speckmann, just to mention a few of his projects.
Just like the case has been on the three preceding album releases by The Grotesquery, "The Lupine Anathema" is a horror-themed concept death metal album, this time featuring a werewolf horror story, which song titles like "Under the Curse of the Full Moon", "Advent of the Werewolves", and "Dark Cry of the Wolf" are also a testimony to. The Grotesquery are a well playing band and Kam Lee is a strong growling vocalist, but that´s not a surprise if you´re familiar with the preceding releases by the band. The music is generally pretty basic old school Swedish oriented death metal and compared to the predecessors very little has actually changed. It´s high quality death metal songwriting, but nothing revolutionizing, although the concept story of course provides something a little more special than usual for the genre.
"The Lupine Anathema" features a powerful, raw, and detailed sound production, which suits the material well, so upon conclusion it´s another strong release by The Grotesquery. A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.