UMUR
"The Weight of Reality" is an EP release by Swedish death metal act Wombbath. The EP was independently released in March 2022. The release of the EP comes with this message on the band´s Bandcamp page: "In the wake of Putins unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, we have decided to release an EP where 100% of the proceeds will go to UNHCR in aid of the Ukrainian people in these unprecedented times." Strong political message aside this is still a musical project deserving a normal review.
Stylistically this is old school Swedish death metal but Wombbath have through the years since their 2014 comeback incorporated more and more elements from other genres like melodic death metal, goth metal, and doom metal, while still primarely playing old school death metal. The other elements are just spices to their core sound, but they are important elements which make Wombbath´s music more interesting. This was first heard on their 2021 magnum opus "Agma" album (a 70 minutes long death metal album), and that tendency is continued on the four tracks on this EP. "Rise of the Rotten" may open in a relatively regular Swedish death metal style, but "Where We Dwell" is a more doomy and adventurous track, which perfectly showcases the "new" Wombbath. Both "Coffin Worship" and "The Architect" are also nicely varied tracks. It´s like Wombbath have successfully paired the early 90s old school Swedish death metal sound with the slightly more adventurous early 90s death/doom releases by artists like Tiamat, Therion, and Cemetary, while still sounding pretty brutal.
"The Weight of Reality" features a well sounding production job, which suits the material perfectly, and upon conclusion it´s another strong release from Wombbath. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.