optisailor2002 After their self-titled debut released under Singapore's Vrykoblast Records in 2009, this year sees Blood Mortized releasing a four-track EP in the form of Bestial under Mexico's Chaos Records. Seeing the country of origin of the band (Sweden) already gave me a rough idea of what to expect of the EP, and having already seen a huge number of Swedish death metal acts releasing new material this year, I wasn't really expecting much from Blood Mortized's latest, though boasting experienced ex-members of other bands certainly puts some credibility even before listening to the EP.

It is surprising then, as opening track Bestial hits the listener in the face, though the trademark razor-sharp guitar tone and chugga-chug riffs of Swedish death metal acts is instantaneously recognisable. Blood Mortized's Bestial puts in a different edge though, with the intensity and the heaviness that is present in the music. The drumming of Anders (who has bands like Amon Amarth in his portfolio, among many other bands), while not particularly fast or furious, is hard-hitting, and there is an almost d-beat feel in his drumming style, adding a slightly punk-edge to the band's music. Even the guitars aren't particularly fanciful, with the leads of Anders being more of an atmospheric instrument, helping to create a feeling of uneasiness and uncertainty in the music.

The band also makes use of various sound samples, such as those of a person being tortured at the background on the title track, and this helps to keep things a little bit insane here. The band also displays varied styles of performance on the four tracks, with each track focussing on different things, despite fundamentally being Swedish death metal, and sees the band attempting to stand out from their counterparts, though to mixed results. For example, Of Dust & Doom is a doom-paced track, and as the title suggests, places a feeling of doom in the listener with the slow pace and the almost asphyxiating atmosphere. Drummer Anders backs this up with the martial-styled drumming on his snare, and the spoken and multi-layered vocals of Mattias pushes the limits of the listener's sanity.

That said though, overall this album is a decent Swedish-styled death metal album, and though the attempt to include various different elements in the album is certainly a good idea, having too many slow moments with tracks like Of Dust & Doom and Rekviem on such a short EP definitely breaks the momentum and disrupts the enjoyment of the EP, making this a weaker effort than it should really be.

Originally written for http://www.heavymetaltribune.com/