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REVOLTING
Monolith Of Madness

F.D.A. (2018)
Rating: 6.5/10

It’s a shame that while so many people have waited for bands such as Morbid Angel to release a good album for so long, that consistent death metal acts tend to get overlooked. One such example is Swedish death metal outfit Revolting, who for the last decade or so have been coughing up ravenous, albeit straight down the line Swedish noise.

Monolith Of Madness, the band’s sixth full-length album, is another selection of barking, buzzing and extremely catchy grunt-fests with hints of traditional metal and melody thrown in for good measure.

This is apparent from the start with the immediately accessible ‘Blood, Blood, Blood’, which is a fearsome, rabid frenzy based around Revolting Rogga’s infectious and commanding growls. Put these to a soundtrack of his own scowling, racing guitar and the festering bass and percussion of Grotesque Tobias and Mutated Martin and you have a rather energetic and salivating journey into what Swedish death metal has always been about.

Some records of this ilk may appear generic and tiresome, but there is a strong, fresh edge about proceedings here as the crusty trio hammers through ‘Procession To The Monolith’ which combines speedier flecks with nastier, chugging chainsaw spits.

The doomier trudge within almost allows us to see the chunks of flesh being discarded as the rusty chainsaw blade carves untidy patterns into the torso of its victim, but it’s when the band goes full pelt that we find ourselves caked in blood and beer. Revolting live up to their name as they assemble a beastly, barbaric barbeque of sounds resulting in prime, juicy cuts such as ‘’Ode To Hastur’ with its murky opening trudge, the horrific assault of ‘Night Of The Tentacles’, and the rotten stench of closer ‘From Out The Deep’ which harkens back to the album opener ‘Blood, Blood, Blood’ with its mix of buzz, thrash and melody.

Elsewhere, I’m contaminated by the hammering of ‘A Wedding For The Dead’ with its grisly vocal spews. This is a track that pretty much sums up this murky blast of an opus; a record which successfully combine the Swedish death metal flavours we’ve come to know and love, but with a dash of vim.

One must also give full marks to the fantastic cover art from Italian artist Roberto Toderico, which in true Lovecraftian nature shows a deep sea Leviathan emerging from the depths.

Neil Arnold

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