Since the last decade, the band has released six studio albums and revamped its lineup bringing a refreshing change by the cohesive unit of Håkan Stuvemark (guitars), Jonny Pettersson (vocals, guitars), and, Thomas von Wachenfeldt (guitars), Matt Davidson (bass) and, Antti Silventoinen (drums). The Swedish gentlemen extend their melodic boundaries in the newest offering “Beyond the Abyss” out via Pulverised Records on March 14th, 2025.

In my view, the seventh studio album provides a robust and organic musical framework; the guitar arrangements and songwriting maintain the musicianship by incorporating more melodies and tempo changes. “Beyond the Abyss” is a successor to the band’s 2021 album “Agma”, the nine songs plus the intro are more varied ranging from Swedish death metal heaviness to catchy guitar textures and plenty of mid-tempos and riffing gallops in songs like “Words Unspoken” and “A Symphony of Dread”.

Without losing the focus the quintet managed to infuse a coherent style of barbaric death metal, after all, there is no intention to re-invent the wheel thus, Wombbath ensures to impress fans of obscure death metal. The guitars are chunky and have a meaty tone that contrasts with the melodic riffing in the slower sections where the use of the violin instrument adds flavor to the songs. The track “Discord of Doom” contains some of the best drumming on the album that begins with straight brutal pummeling and overdriven riffs offsetting into blast beats, and then subdued by the catchy melodic atmosphere provided by the guitars.

“Beyond the Abyss” follows in the Swedish class death and roll style, there is also an emphasis on bass guitar to inject dynamics the drums are executed to bring balance and the guitars seemingly showcase dexterity and technical proficiency.

There are moments on this album where the chugging guitars weave a sonic maelstrom with the double bass drums, resulting in a slow section that combines both dual vocals.

Jonny Pettersson‘s growls sound monstrous and his vocals add depth to the music, what surprised me is the creative use of the violin that forms a gloomy and depressing mood in the track “Malevolent” which is my favorite track on the album, and it is expertly executed by guitarist Thomas von Wachenfeldt.

The drumming is boosted by a steady bass line and excellent guitar work that fills the entire song with brutal riffage especially when the band focuses on mid-tempo in the song “Faces of Tragedy” which maintains the raw atmosphere varying from rotten old-school death metal to obscure brutality.

The use of the keyboards and violin produces a catchy effect in “Deeper Hunger” which is an exquisite song, however, the mid-tempo pacing is executed perfectly; Wombbath combines grooves and lots of guitar melodies that often remind me of bands like Hypocrisy and their classic album “Penetralia”.

Luckily, “Beyond the Abyss” delivers a fresh ingredient that leans less on HM-2 and the Entombed cloned bands, thanks to Håkan Stuvemark and Jonny Pettersson for the compositional change and the musical reform.

“The Damned and the Slain” shows some progressive death metal inspiration that was somehow surprising, but this song is loaded with massive, beefy riffs. Wombbath concludes the album with the final track “Consumed by Fire” which shifts to slow death doom. The effective use of the double bass and shrieks is carried by the offset of the demented violin that fills the tempos with the slow mixture of hunting doomy riffs and this contrasts with the gloomy violin melody.

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