Vomitory, Opus Mortis VIII

Vomitory has been around the block a few times in their 22 year existence. They’ve seen scenes come and go, have gone through plenty of line-up changes and yet have rarely deviated from their Swedish Death Metal roots in that time. Their eighth full-length effort, Opus Mortis VIII, is right on par with past material — thick, bruising and catchy death metal that’s peppered with a chum-like splattering of gore-grind.

This time around however, the band incorporates some heavy handed influences from some other bands that you may recognize. Guitar tone and riffs from more recent Slayer, as well as classic Bolt Thrower, tend to bleed into Vomitory’s bludgeoning repertoire with frequency. I certainly wouldn’t call it out right plagiarism, but the similarities are hard to ignore at times.

A sure-to-be instant classic, “Regorge in the Morgue,” gets the album off to a gory and violent start. Thick, churning bass and a steady, bludgeoning rhythm form a solid base for thick, chunky riffage as guttural growls fill the air. This is a beast of a song and one hell of a way to kick off your eighth studio album. The up-tempo gallop of “Bloodstained” keep the blood flowing at a vigorous pace — be sure to check out the blasting fury in the later stages of the song. Slayer-like riffage appears here as it does in “They Will Burn,” but more-so in a fashion of morphing the two band’s entities and not just out-right aping them. Man, the chorus in “They Will Burn” is catchy as hell and will have you growling along in no time.

“The Dead Awaken” is definitely all Vomitory as they spew a gnarly track full of pummeling death metal before transitioning through a softer lead-in to the slow starting, yet absolutely bruising (and Slayer riff filled) “Hate in a Time of War.” Thankfully, for as enjoyable as that last track was, it’s nice to hear more original song-writing like the unrelenting “Torurous Ingenioius” and the shred-fest that is “Forever Damned.” And despite the obvious Bolt Thrower influenced intro to “Shrouded in Darkness,” the song is still pretty kick ass. The song’s absolute dismal pace and thick tones are a nice change from the unrelenting blasts from the rest of the album.

The closing combination of “Combat Psychosis” and “Requiem for the Fallen” present material that is more original, as well. Both tracks have solid guitar work and rumbling rhythms to round out a pretty damn enjoyable album despite a few instances of heavy influence from other bands here and there. Opus Mortis VII as a whole is a solid release that does its best to incorporate outside elements, but tends to cut it a bit close a few times. Regardless of the mimicry that does show up, Vomitory do have themselves a decent slab of death metal with this eighth album.