Monday, June 10, 2019

Album Review: FIRESPAWN Abominate (06/07)


Firespawn is a Swedish death metal super-group formed in 2012 by LG Petrov (Vocals, Entombed A.D., ex-Morbid, ex-Nihilist), Alex Impaler (Bass, Necrophobic), Victor Brandt (Guitar, Entombed A.D.). Later Fredrik Folkare (Guitar, Unleashed, Necrophobic) and Matte Modin (Drums, Raised Fist, ex-Dark Funeral) completed the roster. Abominate is already their third full length album.

Guess what? Firespawn sounds like a Death Metal band from Sweden. Yes, despite claims that they explore new sounds and it's something different, I really don't hear it. Abominate  is evil and voracious death metal with melodic components. It features 11 songs in 42 minutes. There's a short instrumental, so it's really 10 songs with only one reaching 5 minutes. It all means that it's a very straightforward death metal album. None of this makes it a bad album, by no means. But it also makes it difficult to stand out in a crowded genre. The opening track "The Gallows End" is an interesting one, nice groove, cool riffs, a certain oriental evil feel to it and cool bass/drums intro. "Cold Void/The Hunter" is another highlight for me due to the interesting acoustic intro, the groovy feel and the tempo changes. Actually most of the second half of the album after the instrumental appeals more to me than the first.

While Abominate is a love statement to evil death metal delivered by a super group of fantastic and accomplished musicians, I'd be surprise if I ever come back to it. Those few listening sessions were fine but there was little that stood out. It's really a lack of personal connection, because I'm sure for many others looking for extra death metal records, Abominate will accomplish it for them. 


SCORE: 75/100
DR: 6
Genre: Death Metal
Released by Century Media on June 7th, 2019

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