UMUR "The Reprobate" is the 2nd full-length studio album by Swedish death metal act Firespawn. The album was released through Century Media Records in April 2017. Firespawn is a project band featuring several rather prolific Swedish musicians in lead vocalist LG Petrov (Entombed/Entombed A.D.), guitarist Victor Brandt (Entombed/Entombed A.D.), guitarist Fredrik Folklare (Necrophobic, Unleashed), bassist Alex Friberg (Necrophobic), and drummer Matte Modin (Defleshed, Dark Funeral). There have been no lineup changes since the release of the band´s debut full-length studio album "Shadow Realms (2015)".

Stylistically "The Reprobate" is pretty much a continuation of the death metal style introduced on "Shadow Realms (2015)". It´s old school at it´s core, but it´s not too derivative of past glories. With LG Petrov helming the project (and Brandt on guitars) an Entombed influence is inevitable, but he is predominantly a bit more growling and brutal when singing for Firespawn than he is when singing for his main act (and unfortunately also a bit one-dimensional and monotone in his delivery). The instrumental part of the music generally doesn´t sound like any particular Swedish or foreign country death metal act, but it´s not the most original sounding death metal style either (the main riff on the title track for example loans heavily from Morbid Angel). While the music is varied enough with great rhythmic changes, powerful riffs, and great melodic lead guitar work, you probably won´t come away from the album feeling like you´ve heard something you haven´t listened to before.

It´s not a major issue though, and one of the main reasons for that is the high level musicianship. Considering the involved parties, that´s not a huge surprise, but it deserves to be mentioned that these guys are incredibly well playing and deliver their music with great passion and conviction. "The Reprobate" is well produced too, and upon conclusion it´s a good quality death metal release. It may not shake the foundation of the death metal genre, but it´s another proof of how great the Swedes generally are when it comes to playing the style. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

Nightfly Firespawn are a band, a death metal supergroup even, born from a desire to play more brutal and complex death metal than their day job bands. Vocalist L-G Petrov and guitarist Victor Brandt (Entombed A.D.), drummer Matte Modin (Defleshed), bassist Alex Friberg (Necrophobic) and guitarist Fredrik Folkare (Unleashed) to name just some of the bands these guys have played with. Back for their second outing, with the same line up as on their 2015 debut Shadow Realms, the Reprobate sees them consolidating the positive start made on their debut.

I remember Shadow Realms receiving mixed reviews at the time, though I greatly enjoyed its energy and strong collection of songs with intricate riffing and compelling hooks. The Reprobate whilst not exactly showing any changes in style and maintains (not surprisingly) the Swedish influences improves in the writing department delivering a collection of songs more brutal and technical than before. Not that this in itself makes them better but whilst Shadow Realms had plenty of killer riffs a few less memorable moments made for the occasional lull. Here though from opener Serpent Of The Ocean onwards the intensity rarely lets up, the band seemingly out to silence any naysayers of the debut. The playing is incendiary, the songs nearly always busy with some fantastic guitar work both rhythm and solos and Petrov’s vocals if anything are even more guttural. The rhythm section of Modin and Friberg lay a solid as a rock foundation though busy and complex as well when required. Best of all though a strong consistency is maintained throughout.

The Reprobate has many old school death metal traits but a sharp and modern production clearly mark it as an album of the times and one of the better death metal releases of the year so far. It wasn’t immediate though as the hooks took a few plays to come through as this is pretty busy stuff, so don’t give up on the first listen as this albums well worth quite a bit of your time.