(written by Islander)
What better way to launch your weekend than to have Paganizer blast through the midnight barrier hours before it arrives? And to show us that what lies beyond the barrier is something much more thrilling (and frightening) than an early Saturday morning?
As you undoubtedly know, Paganizer have been seizing attention ever since the late ’90s. With Rogga Johansson continuously at the helm and a changing cast of allies alongside him, Paganizer have released a dozen albums and nearly two dozen shorter releases, and now there’s a lucky 13th album headed our way — entitled Flesh Requiem — with an arrival date of November 1st through Transcending Obscurity Records.
As you can see, it’s adorned by the distinctive artwork of Mariusz Lewandowski, which gives us a chilling glimpse of the other world that lies beyond the midnight barrier. It’s also a suggestive sign that what Paganizer are doing on this new album goes beyond the delivery of ruinous death metal might — and the song we’re premiering today is an electrifying demonstration of that.
“World Scythe” begins and ends with the rattle of machine-gun fire, a reminder of humanity’s endless propensity to scythe itself with war. The music also erupts in fearsome frenzies, but also turns out to be much more multi-faceted than that.
Backed by a hard-rocking groove, the song’ central riff is a darting, pulse-pushing manifestation of fiery heavy metal spirit, with the guitar presenting greater clarity and vibrancy than the kind of distortion that’s often the hallmark of old-school SweDeath. It’s a jubilant experience every time it surfaces.
On the other hand, Johansson‘s distinctive ferocious growl, coupled with the reverberation of moaning chords lower in the register and with more distortion, bring in a different and more dismal sensation, and a vividly swirling guitar-lead sounds like desperation and mounting derangement.
The song fights too, delivering a fretwork jolt-fest paired with skull-snapping beats, which form the prelude to a stirring solo that also manages to trace a spiral of grief. But at the end Paganizer bring us back to the war-zone as Johansson‘s voice rises in harrowing tones, as if to remind us that humanity will never escape its self-destructive impulses.
Like this new song, Flesh Requiem is proof that Paganizer aren’t content to re-tread old ground but even now, after a quarter-century, are still branching out. They still bring the ferocity for sure, but emotionally affecting (and hook-laden) melodies have a central place, as do stylistic influences beyond the bounds of conventional Swedish death metal, and every song proves to be strikingly dynamic in its evolution.
The two previously released album tracks, “Flesh Requiem” and “Life of Decay“, reinforce these impressions.
The former rises up in dark, towering grandeur but also scampers with punk beats and punk chords, bringing a feral kind of energy into the song’s daunting magnificence, and it also boils over with maniacally sizzling riffage and terrorizing screams, and descends into terrible gloom.
The latter, on the other hand, is a racing charge of vicious tremolo’d riffing and blasting percussion, both violent and grim, but laced with wailing melodies that bespeak misery and longing. It’s an electrifying burst of melodic death metal that again features Johansson sending his voice into shattering howls and screams.
ALBUM LINE-UP:
Rogga Johansson – Guitars, Vocals
Dennis Blomberg – Lead Guitars
Martin Klasén – Bass
Matthias Fiebig – Drums
Transcending Obscurity will release Flesh Requiem on vinyl LP, CD, cassette tape, and digital formats, bundled with lots of apparel options and other merch related to the album. Check out all the offerings via the links below.
T.O. recommends the album for fans of – Entombed, Dismember, Edge of Sanity, Desultory, Abscession, Typhonian, and Vanhelgd.
PRE-ORDER:
https://paganizer.bandcamp.com/album/flesh-requiem
http://transcendingobscurity.aisamerch.com/
http://eu.tometal.com/
PAGANIZER:
http://facebook.com/paganizersweden