Damn that’s some crunchy death metal. That bass tone is a swampy, monstrous delight. “I Am the Abyss” tricks you into thinking there will be some classical reprieve from the balls-to-the-wall groove. No such luck. After only a few seconds of strings, the drums and death growls go back to abusing the eardrums. And the guitar picking on the primary hook is extremely infectious.
That level of catchiness continues on into “Fall of the Weak” and beyond with gritty hook after hook. It’s like At the Gates collided with High on Fire. I suppose the former comparison is more than fair given the Swedish roots and Wombbath’s previous album having come out 22 years ago. Stoner sludge meets violent, thrashy melodeath…deep fried. If Wombbath were a food, it would be a Luther Burger. High calorie, greasy, loaded with cholesterol…but irresistibly delicious. I can almost feel my arteries clogging just listening.
Downfall Rising fits well with a number of adjectives, none of them pretty: grimy, groovy, mucky, murky. I’m not a personal subscriber to the THC, but if someone asked for a melodic death metal band to smoke weed to, this would be a top choice. I considered Gigan, but that may be more of a mushroom thing. And yet for all of its sludgy, munchies-level goodness; this is supremely heavy and extreme. “Paid in Blood” has not an ounce of humor in its delivery. Listen to those screams and I dare you to crack a smile at this guy. Lost his damn mind…
By the end of the brassy “Abandoned Furthermore,” I was already going for seconds. Wombbath is not the most unique thing you will hear today, BUT they just plain DESTROY. It’s amusing to me that after being a long term ATG fan, their comeback left me pretty lukewarm. Yet this other group that I have never heard of has completely blown that nonsense out of the water. This is what I had been waiting for, and furthermore it’s a testament to why it is important to look underground even as the hype machine approaches.