Gravebomb - Rot In Putrid Filth

GRAVEBOMB - Rot In Putrid Filth (RAW SKULL Rekordz - CD 2017)

Raw Skull Rekordz is still a young label, but I think they already have some killer releases behind them and even more are announced for 2017. Watch out for them, I believe there are going to be some splendid CDs coming. Most of the bands, which Raw Skull releases are young and yet very little known, some with their debut recordings only. Just as Gravebomb from Sweden, who just released their first CD “Rot In Putrid Filth”. Maybe their name is a bit ridiculous, but the music sounds fantastic and if you dig old school Swedish death metal then you will like it a lot. Obviously you shouldn’t expect that “Rot In Putrid Filth” will be a groundbreaking or genre defining album, it’s actually very typical for this sort of music and it doesn’t surprise the listener with anything what you have not heard before. But the strength of bands like Gravebomb lies in fantastic songwriting, ability of coming up with plenty of killer riffs, amazing melodies and that basically everything has been done in perfect, top notch way. You know, it’s not enough to plug in the Boss HM-2 pedal and play some chunky, heavy riffs along memorable melodies. To be good, you need more than that and I believe that Gravebomb has that something.

As a fan of Swedish death metal I can say that “Rot In Putrid Filth” ticks all the right boxes, there’s everything I love about such style of music and more so, Gravebomb does not sound tired or unnatural, they have this passion and youngsters’ enthusiasm, what only gives better and better results. Their music is powerful, filled with rotten, dark energy, it blasts like crazy and at the same time, along all this aggression, comes catchiness. This album is almost easy to listen to and I personally was into it seconds after the music began. And what an opener “Parasite Spawn” is. This is what I call perfect Swedish death metal song – it begins with blasting stuff, later it can be melodic and doomy, but it all fits together perfectly and the listening is very pleasant. But that’s only the beginning, the whole “Rot In Putrid Filth” contains eleven songs, so there’s plenty more to come. I’ve been playing this album so many times and enjoyed every bit of it. Gravebomb may be just one of many such bands these days and to some of you they won’t be worth attention, since you already have Revel in Flesh, Entrails, Puteraeon and more… but I believe that real fans of this style will check them out also and more so, they will love this music. Because it’s damn awesome. I’m into it and I can only congratulate such a good debut album.

Standout tracks: “Parasite Spawn”, “Animal Hunger”, “Morbid Machine”, “Prime Directive”

Final rate: 80/100