This album should remain a one-off, since Sweden’s Repugnant decided to call it quits shortly after the release of the disc. Mainly the product of one mastermind’s efforts, singer-guitarist Mary Goore (huhu), the conception of this record seems to have taken a lot of time and sweat. But whatever it took, the end result is worth the dime, it’s a solid piece of thrashing death metal, sweating both DIY, handcraft passion and experience (these guys sure ain’t newbies) by every pore. I for sure am no Swedish DM fan boy. I like very, very little stuff from that scene and even Entombed’s ‘Clandestine’ fails to convince me. Despite its undeniable qualities, Repugnant’s album is unlikely to change my mind, but they do it so good it just can’t be ignored either.These guys shamelessly but successfully try to recapture the feel and sound of their scene’s golden days, not the Sunlight era but actually the garage/demo days of Nihilist, Grotesque, Unleashed etc (hence the Morbid cover at the end of the album). Such a project requires total control over what they’re doing, that’s why they produced it themselves and did all the artwork too, even the photo shoots and members nicknames seem to have been thoroughly chosen. To cut it short, while never betraying their underground ethic, the band’s attitude and work is 100% professional. Nice tour de force! The music’s seemingly been conceived the same way. It’s raw and dirty as shit, but honestly not the scariest or most morbid stuff I’ve heard, despite the album‘s title, lyrics or imagery. This stuff’s been beaten to death for so long…I guess it’s only here to fit the ‘back to the roots’ approach. To me these songs’ appeal is elsewhere. They’re full of thrashing groove and head banging-friendly speed. There’s a certain melodic feel too, otherwise this wouldn’t be an old school Swedish DM album, but the music almost totally focuses on energy. Sound-wise, and this is also a hint about these dudes’ in-depth knowledge and specialist craft in old school DM, the listener will find pretty much everything buried under echo, especially the vocals. Those are totally in the vein of what could be heard in the late 80s on this side of the Atlantic : sharp, harsh, raspy screams with all available echo effects on ten, see Hellhammer, Bathory, early Sodom & Kreator and the likes. Keyword : E-V-I-L hehe.Interesting piece of work overall, only weakened by a somewhat zealous ’tribute’ approach resulting in a lack of personality. But out of the bunch of old school revival acts I know, this has to be the most convincing I’ve heard by now. TG of Death
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