Rating: 8.5

Country: Sweden

Release Date: 2006

Record Label: Black Lodge/ Relapse Records

Track list:
1. Death Breath
2. Chopping Spree
3. Heading For Decapitation
4. Dragged Through The Mud
5. Coffins Of The Unembalmed Dead
6. A Morbid Mind
7. Reduced To Ashes
8. Christ All Fucking Mighty
9. Flabby Little Things From Beyond
10. Cthulhu Fhtagn!

Band Website: Death Breath

Death Breath - Stinking Up The Night

Robert Pehrsson - Vocals, Guitars
Nicke Andersson - Drums, Guitars
Magnus Hedquist - Bass

Skepticism be damned- Bloodbath did indeed beat Nicke Andersson to the punch by a considerable distance, but in my mind, Nicke's return (on musical merits alone) deserves considerably more fanfare. The order of the day here is unapologetically brash, belligerent and bellicose Repulsion (think “Black Breath” and “Driven To Insanity”) by way of 'Severed Survival' death metal, a pugnacious offering that boils the Nihilist formula to its elemental components and churns said ingredients with a pinch of 'Wolverine Blues' and a smattering of the Stooges and Motörhead -schooled looseness that Nicke forged with the Hellacopters into a pungent, acrid jambalaya.

While the sincerity behind this release has been questioned by many, the music itself is as confrontational, trenchant and RIFF-DRIVEN from two minds that authored masterpieces from Entombed, Nihilist and Runemagick. Clearly, Death Breath do not endeavor to obscure their influences behind clever, tangential songwriting- the drumming alternates between barreling single-foot blasts and the rocking, grooving Reifert beat ©, swerving and swinging with an infectious, whiplash-inducing fluidity. Interestingly, Scott Carlson himself lends his unmistakable pipes to the 'Horrified' -scented “Chopping Spree” (flaunting one of the most devastatingly simple breakdowns in recent memory), the dynamic “Christ All Fucking Mighty” and the track that most closely mirrors 'Left Hand Path', “Coffins Of The Unembalmed Dead”. Elsewhere, “Dragged Through The Mud” spews Reifertian bile on a canvas of 'Into The Grave', “A Morbid Mind” alternates between sprint and PILEDRIVE mode, boasting a sprawling mid-section that swells into a breakneck, frenetic bridge, ornamented with a typically Nicke Andersson lead (it is FANTASTIC to hear these solos again). Closing out with a Lovecraftian slant (one of but two archetypically Sunlight numbers, “Flabby Little Things From Beyond” and the pervasively morbid, moribund instrumental “Cthulhu Fhtagn”, a lurching and leering number that concludes the album on a strangely ominous, grave [pun not intended] note), 'Stinking Up The Night' assumes no airs and minces no words- the closing instrumental is the closest thing this record gets to being progressive, and its sole purpose lies in offering honest, unashamedly referential death metal, framed and performed with gain-soaked bass, slashing Metal Zone distortion and Reifert beats.

I won't venture to insist that this release demands your attention- in all honesty your money could be better invested in the new Grave, Incantation, Anatomia, Unleashed and Repugnant efforts, or, indeed, the Asphyx reissues that have recently surfaced, but I can, without scarce hesitation, say that this is one of the most enjoyable death metal recordings I've lost brain cells to this year. Infectious, urgent, affectionately nostalgic and convincingly filthy, this is everything I expected it to be, and it is always nice, when you're a disgruntled cynic, to have hopes fulfilled. Recommended.

October 30th, 2006