WOMBBATH — The Great Desolation (review)

WOMBBATH — The Great Desolation album cover Album · 2018 · Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
UMUR
"The Great Desolation" is the third full-length studio album by Swedish death metal act Wombbath. The album was released through Soulseller Records in June 2018. It´s the successor to "Downfall Rising" from 2015 and features an almost completely new lineup compared to the lineup who recorded the predecessor. The only remaining members of the lineup who recorded "Downfall Rising" (2015) are guitarist Håkan Stuvemark and lead vocalist Jonny Pettersson. The former is the only remaining member from the band´s first active period which lasted from 1990 to 1995. Wombbath originally disbanded in 1995 and didn´t reunite until 2014. So while "The Great Desolation" is only the band´s third full-length studio album Wombbath have a long history and a place on the seminal 90s Swedish death metal scene, although they arguably didn´t make as much impact back then as some of their more successful contemporaries.

Stylistically the material on "The Great Desolation" is a continuation of the old school Swedish death metal style of "Downfall Rising", complete with the by now trademark buzzsaw HM2 guitar sound. While the material is well written, brutal, and effective, "The Great Desolation" is not an album with a particularly unique sound, and it´s not an album where you would immediately recognise that it is Wombbath playing. So in that respect it´s a pretty generic sounding Swedish death metal release. That´s of course a pretty negative description, and when that is said "The Great Desolation" still has many selling points in a well sounding production job (which makes the otherwise old school death metal material sound a bit more contemporary), strong musicianship, and as mentioned above some effective songwriting. So while I could have wished for a more original sound, "The Great Desolation" is still a quality release and a 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is deserved.
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