Tormented - Graveyard Lust

 

TORMENTED - Graveyard Lust (WAR ANTHEM - LP 2012)

I guess I can say that Tormented belongs to the most appreciated old styled death metal bands from Sweden, if we’re talking about the currently dominating movement of the old school death metal. After the highly acclaimed “Rotten Death” LP from 2009 and the split 10” MLP with Bombs of Hades (which due to its limited pressing of 300 copies hasn’t really been that much noticed) the time has come for another slab of rotten and filthy death metal carnage, titled “Graveyard Lust”. This is a MLP, but with six tracks and 25 minutes of music it is close to the full length, so many of you will be very pleased to listen to it and bang the skull in maniacal frenzy and hunger for some human flesh! I must recommend you getting this MLP right now, which shouldn’t be so difficult, considering the fact that “Graveyard Lust” has been released as a digipack CD as well as a 12” LP. Personally I bought both versions, but I hold the vinyl pressing of “Graveyard Lust” as especially precious in my collection, as it’s been limited to only 400 copies and was a real must to have, right next to the other vinyl releases of this band.

I must say that I really like the cover art and the yellow colouring of the whole layout of “Graveyard Lust”. It definitely looks different to most of the other albums and the cover art reminds me B class horror / slasher movies, which is just awesome. It definitely is one of my favourite front artworks, which I’ve seen in the past months. LP comes with an insert, with lyrics on one side and the band’s photo on the other, so we basically get everything that is necessary to fully enjoy the music.

“Graveyard Lust” blasts with fury and aggression right from the very first seconds, showing even more obscure and morbid sort of archaic death metal than from the previous recordings; one, which combines the elements of early Swedish scene with the American style of Autopsy, Mantas / Death and from the newer bands I can think of Death Breath, Maim and Bastard Priest. There’s of corpse a strong punkish influence in this music and even of the primitive black metal (think of some of the recent Darkthrone albums for instance), but that’s normal, as all the bands, which I mentioned are taking a lot of the inspirations from the crust / punk. “Graveyard Lust”, the title track, definitely stayed in my mind more than the rest, with its infectious and memorable chorus part, but also with a lot of good riffing. “Revel in Blood” is just fast as hell, this song is very crazy and furious, although the tempo and riffing may seem very monotonous in it, as it basically goes by with one pace and riff, except one part, which at the end brings a minute to take breath, offering more melodic and slower bit (which sounds fantastic, if you ask me!). And “Slowly Twisted to Death” is very similar; it also is very relentless, very punkish and very filthy! When listening to those songs from side A I must say that I was quite impressed by the atmosphere, which Tormented has created in their music – grim, thrilling and totally in the horror style. I was also quite surprised to heat the vocals of Andreas Axelson, which are very distorted, sound inhuman and sick, so don’t expect a typical death metal growling.

Meanwhile side B starts with another killer track, “Sacrifice the Dead”. It’s a great song, very catchy and with killer vibe, memorable chorus and some more harmonious riffs. “Sick in the Head” is also an instant ear-catcher, it definitely is my favourite track from the whole MLP, offering great, pure old styled death metal riffs, perfect for headbanging and fist throwing. This is one of those songs, which you can listen to all the time and just drink beers or vodka, puke and dig out some corpses in the nearest graveyard, as it’s always nice to have a snack when drinking and listening to dirty death metal! Arrgghhhh! This is just fuckin’ brilliant!

So, as you can see my overall impression on this newest Tormented is yet again very positive. The material on “Graveyard Lust” seems even more morbid and obscure than the previous recordings and I can say that stylistically I can easily put them next to the likes of Maim, Morbus Chron, Death Breath and Bastard Priest… So, if you’re into these bands, then don’t miss your chance and get “Graveyard Lust” asap.

Standout tracks: “Graveyard Lust”, “Sacrifice the Dead”, “Sick in the Head”

Final rate: 80/100