Wombbath – Downfall Rising (Dark Descent)
Genre: Death Metal
Twenty-two years is a long time between albums, even by Metallica’s standards. However, Downfall Rising has been worth waiting for. For it’s a welcome return from Wombbath – or rather guitarist Håkan Stuvemark, the only original member left in the ranks – and takes you on a downtuned dive into the netherworld of Swedish death metal, with Boss HM-2 pedals set to kill on the way down.
While there are plenty of bands now either playing in – or taking inspiration from – the classic Entombed/Dismember style (on both sides of the Atlantic), it’s still nice to hear an act who really know what do with this sound: namely unleash savage, brutally heavy and heavily catchy ditties like I Am The Abyss and Under Apokalypsens Svarta Vingar, and pack them with depthcharge riffs.
There’s nothing particularly original about Downfall Rising, no wheels have been reinvented here. But with tracks such as Underneath the Rotten Soil, Stuvemark and co. make Swedish DM that’s exhilarating, menacing and at times, absolutely devastating.
There’s no school like the old school, as someone once said… and Wombbath’s second full length proves it. Richard Holmes
RUSHONROCK RATED: 7.5/10 Rebirth