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DERANGED: HIGH
ON BLOOD
Regain
Records
PO Box 12026
S-245 02 Hjarup
Sweden |
|
Swedish
death metal.
One
hears the term and immediately thinks of ENTOMBED,
DISMEMBER, GRAVE, and UNLEASHED in the beginning,
and in present day AT THE GATES (RIP), DARK TRANQUILITY, and DEFLESHED.
It has connotations of predominately melodic music. Yet the exceptions
exist. DERANGED last laid the world to waste with the full length
RATED X and mini cd SCULPTURE OF THE DEAD.
Though
not overly obvious, the vocalist is new: Fredrik Sandberg replaced Per.
The difference on the lower vocals is minimal, but Fredrik also employs
some higher vocals which make him quite endearing from a brutal fans
perspective (Fredrik, however, is supposedly out of the band now). There
arent many other differences. You know DERANGED riffs when
you hear them, some of the craziest axe-work out of Sweden, utilizing
several hammer-ons and pull-offs which give their heaviness and speed
a baroque feel; in other words, the music earns the bands namesake.
One
note of interest is the improvement of Rikard Wermen on drums. He was
no slouch on RATED X, but his blast beats seemed to lag a fraction of
a second behind entirely satisfactory. His other fast work was exemplary,
and more than compensated. On HIGH ON BLOOD, though, he fills the
slight void and works his snare faster in the blasts. What all this combined
equals is a true gem of insanity, heavy in the way Sweden is reknowned
but far more brutal than the bigger names in death. Witness the trademark
dementia of "ROBBER OF LIFE," "RAISED ON HUMAN SIN," and "NAILED EJACULATION" as well as the punishing heaviness
of "(EROTI)KILL" and "EXPERIENCE THE FLESH." RATED
X was a great slab of brutality, but HIGH ON BLOOD hones the attributes
of RATED X to finish as more energetic and ultimately superior.
4
Perplex Skulls
This review copyright 1998 E.C.McMullen Jr.
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