Daemonicus, Deadwork

You know, I’m a lucky son of a bitch. No matter how many times I hear that telltale buzz of old school Swedish death metal on a new release, I start to drool with anticipation. It’s a sound I grew up with and, hopefully, a sound my frozen corpse will cling to as the worms come. Of course, there has been some really bad examples of the revival, but the sophomore album from Daemonicus isn’t part of that collective pile.

Deadwork isn’t an overly complex album. It isn’t overly technical in any way, shape or form. But what it is… well it’s packed full of memorable riffing, buzzing groove and burly rhythms just like the old days. Think Dismember and early Entombed, but with a good deal more melody and a relatively clean, modern production. The ten tracks on Deadwork are infectious, bruising and have enough of that old school sensibility to make veteran and new fans alike giddy over the death metal these guys deliver.

Daemonicus start the album off with the solid “A Dead Work of Art” which is packed full of buzzing riffs and head-snapping groove. It’s got a bit of a Bloodbath vibe to it which I’m totally cool with. “The Grandeur of Total Termination” amps up the pace a good deal with pile-driving drums and a more varied vocal delivery and a chorus that you can growl along with. “We Feast on Your Flesh” has got to be one of the more brutal and catchier tracks on the album. It’s also got a bit of an Unleashed (circa Shadows in the Deep) vibe to accompany the monstrous riffs that it’s packed with.

The guys change the pace nicely with the slow and gentle start to “The Hymn of Ubo Sathla” before launching into lurching riffage and pile-driving drums. It’s a killer track that is perfectly placed within the flow of the album. “Inhabited” is an absolute monster of a track as it pummels you senseless right from the start, rarely letting up through its five minute run-time (the last minute of which is reverb and sound bytes). “Nothing But Death” is one of the stronger songs on the disc and carries a nice bit of melody amongst the driving guitars and rhythms shifts.

All in all, Deadwork is another excellent example of what can be done with old school Swedish death metal without bastardizing those bands who pioneered the genre. There’s no aping going on here, just a solid incorporation of timeless influences and a modern take on the style. Daemonicus are now on my radar and I expect these guys to continue to impress with future releases.