In the history of rock ‘n' roll, saturated by polished melodies, electronic manipulation and Ozzfest, some might argue the world of metal has strayed far from its roots and found itself in the commercial realm. Death Breath's debut album, Stinking up the Night, is an unrepentant antithesis of this trend.
Formed from the ashes of death metal giants Nihilist, Entombed and Mausoleum, Death Breath is the real deal. They play raw, organic death metal. They play fast, they don't get caught up in technical wankery and they take grotesque tongue-in-cheek lyricism to new levels of absurdity.
In other words, Stinking up the Night is exactly what death metal purists have been asking for.
Nicke Andersson fronts the Swedish group and adds to the so-called ""tribute"" band with his diverse rAcsumAc. He rose to fame in the early '90s riding the tides of death metal with Entombed, but achieved more success as the frontman for the rock ‘n' roll band The Hellacopters.
With Death Breath, he returns to form as if he had never canceled his Metal Maniacs subscription.
At times, Robert Pehrsson's vocals evoke memories of early Slayer, but they most often echo the more guttural styles of traditional death metal.
The majority of Stinking up the Night maintains an accelerated, almost thrashy pace with a death metal nucleus. However, songs like ""Dragged Through the Mud"" and ""Coffins of the Unembalmed Dead"" are pure early '90s death. Both styles work for the band, and the songs meld into a cohesive unit.
Named for the band itself, the opening track begins the album with a spooky dual guitar riff to set the mood for 10 songs worth of nightmarish imagery. The song rages on with simpleA-A- yet tasty solos separated by alternating intervals of frantically high-speed fretwork and slow, crunching grooves.
The lyrics of the song showcase Death Breath's sense of humor: ""With an infernal fragrance / I stink up the night / A stench so relentless / Taking bad breath to new heights."" Death Breath obviously don't take themselves too seriously, and therein lies a major credit to their charisma.
With ""Heading for Decapitation,"" Death Breath test out their serious side with a musical backdrop fitting for the most gruesome of themesâ_in this case, capital punishment. The lyrics probably won't change anyone's life, but the attempt at serious songwriting deserves some recognition in a genre sometimes lacking in depth.
They also tackle the issues of war, criminal insanity and the apocalypse before returning to their aforementioned nonsensical humor in ""Flabby Little Things From Beyond.""
While still morbid, the lyrics are completely ludicrous: ""Lo and behold the abominations / You try telling yourself you've been conned / But as they pierce your flesh you acknowledge / The flabby little things from beyond.""
The final track is an instrumental which, while intriguing, lacks unity with the rest of the album. While the first nine songs rumble and wail forward, this number is slow and introspective, but merits a listen.
Stinking up the Night is a welcome breath of fresh death in a sea of nA¼-metal and metalcore, but don't expect much innovation from these veteran musicians, and don't expect any apologies.
A statement on their website sums up their attitude: ""Hope you like it, and if you don't, well we're Death Breath and we stink.""
