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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Dismember, probably at their heaviest!, April 29, 2008
The rating for this should really be 4.5, in my opinion.
This album is simply awesome! I really wasn't expecting this release from Dismember, I have to say. I know they started downplaying the whole Melodic Death Metal thing, but this album has basically three riffs and the rest is pure Death Metal. As soon as "Death Conquers All" kicks in you just know we're dealing with a heavier and more aggressive Dismember.
This is definitely one of the heaviest and most aggressive Dismember albums to date. I am usually loathe to use this statement to describe the music, but they have definitely heralded back to the older days. Now it's obviously not going to be just like they were playing in the days of "Like an Everflowing Stream" again, but some songs definitely have that kind of a feel. Albeit the sound is pretty cleaned up by comparison, so they're maintaining the pristine recording quality they adopted in the later years. Most of the melodic sections are used as either an intro or an outro, but the primary parts of all the songs are just pure Death Metal. Maybe it's just me, but one of the melodic sections sounds like absolute Megadeth worship, done with the Dismember tone of course. They returned to writing parts that have catchier sections here and there, which was something that I think was left out of "The God that Never Was", but for the self titled they've brought it back a little bit more. However, unlike "Massive Killing Capacity" it's not a full album of Rock induced Death Metal, no this one is just Death Metal through and through!
They've had another line-up change this time around as well, and probably one of the biggest changes to date. Fred Estby is not performing on this album. Not only was he the drummer he was also a major writing force so I can only assume that his absence has affected this fairly drastic shift in their compositional approach. Not to worry though, they found a rather surprising replacement with Thomas Daun who played for Repugnant and Insision. If you've heard either band you know this guy is an accomplished man behind the kit. Maybe it's just my bias, but "Conquer All" has some parts that vaguely remind me of a Repugnant vibe. Either way, I loved it and I think he's a great replacement and addition to the band. Martin Persson the guitarist they picked up on "The God that Never Was" seems to have stuck around, so maybe we're finally back to a full line-up, since they've also added a new bassist to the mix with Tobias Christensson.
The album focuses more on being heavy than fast or melodic and in that we have songs like "Dark Depths" that are much slower and brooding, but still incredibly heavy. I liken it to the early days of Grave, who also began to make a very strong comeback as of late in the Death Metal scene. Think "Brutally Deceased" off of "You'll Never See..." if you want a reference point. "Dismember" was a much more aggressive album from my perspective, but there aren't any overly memorable tracks on here like there was with songs like "Casket Garden". "Europa Burns" is about one of the only ones that I remember off hand with a catchy chorus riff. This is one unfortunate aspect of an otherwise incredible release.
If you're a long time Dismember fan then I really don't think there is anything for you to get disappointed about. In fact, on some levels, I think this album outdoes "Where Ironcrosses Grow". This aggressive and vicious approach to the album really stood out to me and definitely kept it spinning more than once in my world. I definitely recommend this, especially if you were more of a fan of what they were doing with "Indecent & Obscene" versus "Death Metal". If you were someone who preferred the latter, then you might not find this nearly as compelling of an album.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
80/100, Dismember sounds like true death metal again, and thankfully it's one of their better albums., July 6, 2009
This is definitely tied with Like An Ever Flowing Stream in terms of sounding heavy, although there's no question that Like An Ever Flowing Stream is the overall better album. Having said that this is still great, hence my score of 80/100. The production is slightly muddier but you can still decipher what's going on with the instruments. They all sound pretty much on par with their performances on The God That Never Was but I think the drums are surprisingly enough an improvement. My top songs here are "To End it All", "Tide of Blood", and "The Hills Have Eyes". If you're into old-school death metal you can't go wrong with this album.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Dismember Still Kill, October 10, 2008
I picked this album up with a bit of trepidation. The last Dismember album I bought fell short of expectations. I had also hear recent Entombed and seeing as I was a huge Clandestine fan I couldn't really wrap my head around it. So, I saw the Swedish death metal scene taking a plummet. That was until now. While there are many good Swedish death metal bands out there, none come close to really giving me the kick than Dismember. This album pretty much kicks it into an old school death metal groove (how I HATE cliche's). They have gone back to their roots and it sounds GREAT. So, I highly recommend this album to anyone familiar with early Dismember and willing to take a nostalgic step back.
There are hints of Maiden-esque dual guitar work as well as some truly insane speed stuff going on. You can hear their maturity as well as their youthful exuberance. I love it.
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