Wombripper – Macabre Melodies (Memento Mori)

Monday, 2nd November 2020
Rating: 8/10

Old school Swedish death metal by way of Russia. Wombripper return after a successful debut full-length in From the Depths of Flesh in 2018 with a second helping of pure SweDeath goodness. From the d-beat drum patterns to the HM-2 pedals and distortion, it’s all here in its aggressive and raging glory.

While the band isn’t exactly breaking new ground with their retro revivalist sound, they are entirely vicious and convincing in their execution. Merging bits of absolutely frantic speed (see “Obscurity Depths”) with some tastefully delightful melodies and mid-tempo crunchiness means that they completely understand the sound’s strong suits and waste no time delivering nothing but the good stuff. The d-beats make the faster parts seem more urgent, to the point of devolving into blastbeats while the HM-2 gives it all the bite that one could ask for. Yet despite the frequent dips into furious speed, as the album title implies, there’s a lot of melody going on behind the scenes. “Wicked Breed” sneakily weaves in some great ones while the band goes forward at such a breakneck pace that it almost feels unhinged. It’s these little tid bits that you pick up on that will bring you back for more, even if the adrenaline rush is so well done that you don’t really mind coming back repeatedly to a song like “Shredded Corpse Remains” for a good bludgeoning.

Do you like Swedish death metal worship done at high speeds? If there’s even a thought of yes in your answer, then you owe it to yourself to check out Wombripper. Macabre Melodies takes only from the strongest of influences and puts them into an energetic and fun trip that will definitely leave your neck and body a bit battered.

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