UMUR "Abominate" is the 3rd full-length studio album by Swedish death metal act Firespawn. The album was released through Century Media Records in June 2019. It´s the successor to "The Reprobate" from 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)".

The material on "Abominate" is technically well played, brutal, and relatively catchy death metal. I´m predominantly reminded of Morbid Angel (and especially their slow- and mid-paced tracks/parts), but if I have to mention a contemporary act it would be the Danes in Baest. The two acts share a love for the early Florida and early Swedish death metal scenes and they don´t make it a secret in either the way they perform their music or the way they compose it. There are no contemporary tendencies here, no core screams, no hardcore influenced breakdowns, and only a tasteful atmospheric use of melody (Folklare is as always on fire and delivers some jaw-dropping moments along the way). This is in other words old school death metal to the bone.

The high level musicianship is one of the great assets of the album, and it´s a great joy listening to such skilled musicians performing. I´m not sure I´m 100% satisfied with the growling vocals by LG Petrov though. To my ears his vocals come off a bit one-dimensional and monotone, and I could have wished for a little more emotion and variation in that department. He gets the job done, but that´s about it. The material are as mentioned well written and relatively memorable, but a couple of more hooks and catchy moments wouldn´t have hurt, and although everything is delivered with spotless professionalism and the album is also packed in a powerful, clear, and detailed sounding production, I miss that last element to make the album reach a higher level. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is still deserved though.

Nightfly For what is essentially supposed to be a part time band (see my other Firespawn reviews for info on their day jobs), since releasing their debut album Shadow Realms in 2015 Firespawn have been pretty prolific and are already onto album number three. An album every couple of years is more than most full time bands seem to manage these days. There’s always that danger of inferior work getting released when bands release albums too quickly but there’s no sign of that here with Firespawn remaining consistently excellent since day one.

Abominate more or less follows the template laid down by their first two albums. That being more of an old school death metal style with a modern edge aided by a sharp production but thankfully not getting too far into that clinical sound that permeates many modern death metal releases these days. The standard of the songs is of an overall high standard with no shortage of crushingly heavy and inventive riffs from the two guitarists Victor Brandt and Fredrik Folkare, who also play some fine solos as well. The rhythm section of Matte Modin and Alex Friberg are incredibly tight and despite the speed of much of their playing also manage to inject plenty of groove into their patterns. Vocalist L G Petrov delivers the same guttural growl as on the first two albums which suits the style well even if can be a bit one-dimensional at times.

Overall then Firespawn have delivered the goods yet again with another excellent album putting many full time bands to shame. Hardly surprising though considering the extreme metal pedigree here. I’m now primed for album number four but before that hopefully another Unleashed album to follow the brilliant The Hunt For White Christ.