BLOODBATH — Grand Morbid Funeral (review)

BLOODBATH — Grand Morbid Funeral album cover

Album · 2014 · Death Metal

4.5/5 · 2015-01-21
UMUR

"Grand Morbid Funeral" is the 4th full-length studio album by Swedish death metal act Bloodbath. The album was released through Peaceville Records in November 2014. It´s been quite a few years since the release of their 3rd full-length studio album "The Fathomless Mastery (2008)", but Bloodbath has always been a side-project for the members, and something they´ve done when they had some time off from their main acts. Both Opeth and Katatonia, where all members of "The Fathomless Mastery (2008)" lineup are active, are rather prolific acts with a busy scedule, but 2014 was the year when the members of Bloodbath once again had time to gather for the recording of an album. There´s been one rather significant change in the lineup since "The Fathomless Mastery (2008)" though, as lead vocalist Mikael Åkerfeldt has been replaced by Nick Holmes (Paradise Lost), which makes it a first time, for a non-Swede to be added to the lineup.

That doesn´t change the fact that "Grand Morbid Funeral" stylistically is old school Swedish death metal to the bone. Buzzing guitar tone, good rhytmic variation between doomy beats, D-beats, heavy mid-paced and faster paced parts, and even the odd blasting section. Compared to his predecessor Nick Holmes brings a less guttural growling and more morbid sounding vocal style to the table. An intelligible growling vocal style which suits the music on "Grand Morbid Funeral" very well. He sounds a bit different now from how he sounded on the early Paradise Lost albums, but he is just as convincing here as he was back in the late 80s/early 90s.

The change on the lead vocalist spot definitely makes "Grand Morbid Funeral" stand out in the band´s discography, but then again, no one can accuse Bloodbath of making the same album twice. They may only tweak their old school Swedish death metal sound slightly from release to release, but it´s enough for each album to stand out, which is actually quite the achievement considering the usually strict boundaries/stylistic limitations of the genre. In addition to guitars, bass, drums, and vocals, the band have added atmospheric keyboards to some of the tracks. They are always kept tastefully in the back of the soundscape, and never overshadows the more metal oriented instrumentation, but they still bring a dark majestic impact whenever they appear.

The 11 track, 46:31 minutes long album features high quality material through and through, but tracks like the opening "Let the Stillborn Come to Me", the occult and doomy "Church of Vastitas", and the absolutely brilliant title track, are among the highlights on "Grand Morbid Funeral". A few tracks might not be as distinct sounding and memorable as the above mentioned, but all tracks are still of great quality taken one by one.

The album features a heavy, raw, and powerful sound production, which brings out the best in the equally raw music, and when that music is played by skilled musicians, who deliver with both passion and conviction, it´s hard to ask for more. Bloodbath has done it again, and created an old school Swedish death metal album of an incredibly high quality, which only a select few can muster. We´re dealing with the absolute elite of old school death metal here, and "Grand Morbid Funeral" is yet another ten ton hammer to set things straight. A 4.5 star (90%) rating is deserved.