Bloodbath CDs

 

Cost: $2.00 each

 

I was quite happy to find these, since I thought they would be my very first Bloodbath CDs...Much to my surprise, while making room to slot these in on my shelf, I saw the original 3-track press of Breeding Death. Huh. No recollection of where or when I got it, and no memory of what it sounded like.

I was never in a hurry to check out their material since so much other metal took priority. Before hearing them, I had a sense it would be decent, certainly better than the musicians' current output in their main bands, but probably not spectacular. I do remember hearing a song from one of the earlier full-lengths and being kind of disappointed because it seemed they were hyped up as a largely HM-2 worshiping supergroup, whereas I recall thinking the track I heard sounded more like something like Insision than any of the Swedish death metal classics. On the other hand, I did hear a few songs from Survival of the Sickest, and they more like what I originally expected. Not great, and maybe not as old-school sounding as I would have personally liked, but good. 

Bloodbath - Breeding Death (2006 reissue) 

Hey, this is actually really good! It's not as overtly Entombed-influenced as I was expecting. There's the obvious nod to the Phantasm-inspired section of "Left Hand Path" at the end of "Furnace Funeral," but in general the music seems to be more influenced by Dismember, Grave, and Carnage. I didn't perceive any particular Morbid Angel influence on the first playthrough, but the bonus demo version of "Breeding Death" starts off with short reversed riff snippet ala "Immortal Rites," and really highlights their influence in that recurring intro riff.

 

Bloodbath - Nightmares Beyond Flesh (2005 reissue)  

Unfortunately no debut in the bargain bin, so we'll have to skip forward to their second full-length. This is far more contemporary sounding and has less of a tight focus on the old Swedish death metal sound. While most of the more melodic guitar lines on the EP seemed to be a Dismember influence, here there are some that have more of a Heartwork-era Carcass feel to them. The snarlier side of the vocals that pops up occasionally is even reminiscent of Jeff Walker. It's fine, especially considering what I paid, and there are definitely some cool parts, like the slower ending section of "Stillborn Saviour," but I much prefer the EP. This reissue even tacks on the same two early demo bonus tracks that were on the Breeding Death reissue, and they stand out as being way better than the album material.