UMUR
"Death, Madness, Horror, Decay" is the 2nd full-length studio album by Swedish death metal act The Lurking Fear. The album was released through Century Media Records in November 2021. It´s the successor to "Out Of The Voiceless Grave" from 2017 and features the same quartet lineup who recorded the predecessor: Lead vocalist Tomas Lindberg (At the Gates, Grotesque, Lock Up, The Crown), drummer Adrian Erlandsson (At the Gates, The Haunted, Paradise Lost, Cradle of Filth, Vallenfyre), guitarist Fredrik Wallenberg (Embalmed, Skitsystem, Sarcasm), guitarist Jonas Stålhammer (At the Gates, Bombs of Hades, God Macabre, Macabre End, The Crown), and bassist Andreas Axelsson (Edge of Sanity, Tormented, Marduk, Infestdead). With the names involved The Lurking Fear could easily be called a Swedish death metal supergroup project.
Stylistically the material on "Death, Madness, Horror, Decay" continue the H.P. Lovecraft themed old school death metal style of "Out Of The Voiceless Grave" (2017). These guys are all seasoned veterans of the Swedish death metal scene, and they know exactly what they do. The performances are tight and inspired, the songwriting effective and memorable, and the album also features a suitingly raw and brutal sounding production. The most unique feature of the band´s sound is arguably the distinct sounding voice and singing style of Lindberg. His growling vocals have an hysterical edge to them and they are higher pitched than more normal growling vocals. The unusual vocal style works for the most part, but there are a couple of tracks on the album, where Lindberg sounds a little powerless. It´s like age has caught up with him...but then he suddenly sounds like his old self on other tracks, so maybe it´s just a voice production issue.
The old school death metal riffs and rhythms are complimented by tasteful use of keyboards, acoustic guitar parts, thrashy riffs, and intricate lead guitar work, and those details are the icing on the cake, which make "Death, Madness, Horror, Decay" the high quality release it is. A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.