Mordbrand - Wilt

MORDBRAND - Wilt (CARNAL Records - LP 2017)

It won't be first – and not the last for sure - time, when I will praise Mordbrand for their fantastic music, but I really have to admit that "Wilt" is the best and my favourite effort from this band so far. Just when I thought that there cannot be anything better than "Imago" and "In Nighted Waters", I finally spend some decent time with "Wilt" and all the hell broke loose. This album is fantastic from start to finish and a real highlight in the discography of that Swedish band.  

I suppose that what I find as the strongest aspect of Mordbrand is that their music is on one hand strongly rooted in the traditional Swedish death metal, but on the other it has enough quality and originality to stand individually and unmatched in the current scene. They definitely take a lot of inspiration from the old days and classic albums, but the music never sounds like a typical copy of Grave or Entombed. It sounds fresh, vital and insanely powerful, especially when the band speeds up and blasts like crazy, crushing heads with relentless force. Let’s be honest, everybody loves to hear fast death metal and it always sounds fuckin awesome, so does “Wilt”, especially that it’s rather rare when an old school Swedish death metal music blasts so much.

But at the same time, there are also slower pieces, some groove, some melodic riffs, all brilliantly arranged and played, so the album is very diverse. Every song has something to offer, there’s always something great going on and this is why “Wilt” is such a good, perfectly balanced, dynamic album and why the songwriting has such a quality, which many older bands have lost ages ago. I absolutely worship this music. Don’t be surprised then if I write that Mordbrand became one of my very favourite bands. With powerful songs like “Bleed into Nought”, “Give In to Oblivion”, the amazing "At the Larvae Column” it is a real winner for me. And I cannot recommend it enough. Excellent, excellent piece of death metal.

Standout tracks: “Bleed into Nought”, “Give In to Oblivion”, "At the Larvae Column”

Verdict: 90/100