The best death metal supergroup of all time is finally back! Being a HUGE fun of their previous releases, I was a little anxious about this one because Mikael Akerfeldt was no longer on growling duties. He was replaced by Nick Holmes of Paradise Lost fame, a doom (NOT death) metal band that primarily utilizes him as a singer (not growler).

Initially, I was not a fan of the vocals at all. The somewhat raspy vocals that replaced the monster growls of previous Bloodbath albums were underwhelming. However, upon multiple listens, I realized the music was subtly different sounding than previous albums... and were designed with a crusty edge that fits almost perfectly with Holmes' raspy take on growls. In fact, the throwback sound really started to remind me quite a bit of Vallenfyre (perhaps the second best death metal supergroup of all time).

The riffs and drumming are incredible, as on all Bloodbath albums, and harken back to the good ol' days of death metal. Lyrically, this album is perhaps a bit less tongue in cheek and more straightforward than past releases, but still fun... in a brutally Metalocalypse sort of way.

3.5/5 - Very good, although doesn't live up to past releases. The new sound is not really an improvement to me, although it all fits together very well. Really, they absolutely nail the early to mid 90s sound that they're going for... I'm just not the biggest fan of that era of death metal.