BOMBS OF HADES
Chambers Of Abominations
(Blood Harvest Records)
31:23min

Fuck modern influences, fuck modern Death Metal, only old school is real! That’s my impression while listening to the marvelous debut album from BOMBS OF HADES called “Chambers Of Abominations”. The goose bumps arrived my skin after the first 50 seconds of ‘Corpse Holocaust’ (first track) and the “Fuck” of Jonas Stahlhammar. Utterly great! It’s too rare to hear such authenticity when talking about Death Metal. The tremendous MASTER-, CARNAGE- and AUTOPSY-influence is similar to the good old GOD MACABRE stuff, minus their PARADISE LOST-influence. BOMBS OF HADES are mostly midtempo, using plain and straight drumming (MASTER) with catchy guitarriffs in exactly the same tuning GOD MACABRE used on their awesome “The Winterlong…” album. No wonder, as Jonas Stahlhammar was the main-songwriter of GOD MACABRE and covers this position in BOMBS OF HADES, too. The nice detail is, that even some similarities to other known tracks from other bands make the whole album even more attractive – just listen to the beginning of ‘The Storm Is Coming’ which is ‘Living Dead’ of ENTOMBED par excellence : -) Well, Jonas is back with a tribute to his own past and best musical period, if you ask me. GOD MACABRE were essential from my point of view and one of the real treasures in the Death Metal underground and BOMBS OF HADES do everything correct by following the tradition of this band. Nevertheless they are more than a tribute and definitely no plain follow up, which you especially recognize on the 2nd half of this album. BOMBS OF HADES easily can stand alone and have the quality to convince all Death Metal freaks who are looking out for Death Metal with the roots from the classic bands. Though the resemblance is given the major difference between GOD MACABRE and BOMBS OF HADES is the rawer presentation and less melodic style of this new outfit. BOMBS OF HADES do it fairly well separate both bands from each other, and honestly spoken – do we really want to have a new GOD MACABRE? I prefer to see at least one of these musicians active taking his influence back to life again and making the best out of it: releasing an album as “Chamber Of Abomination”. And the best thing the guys could decide is to put it out as a vinyl-only release. At least that’s the situation for the moment and therefore my advice is to buy this release from Blood Harvest as fast as you can as I’m sure, if it is a limited edition this will be a collector’s item soon. But I guess it’s no limited edition – which shouldn’t stop your enthusiasm in buying it… Available through www.bloodharvest.se or any supportive mailorders who should be forced to carry this release in their catalogue!

Thomas Ehrmann

Thomas Ehrmann

BOMBS OF HADES
Chambers Of Abominations
(Blood Harvest Records)
33:35min

I had heard BOMBS OF HADES first EP, "Carnivores" some years ago. And I really enjoyed it. It was a nice 5 track EP full of that rotting stench of the early 90s Swedish Death Metal. But, as in tons of other Swedish bands, it fell through the cracks in terms of originality and detail. Well, let’s move forward 2 years. BOMBS OF HADES releases their debut album "Chambers Of Abomination" via Blood Harvest Records. I may add, Rodrigo of Blood Harvest, definitively has an ear for the bands he signs. I can’t remember one bad release from his label. Anyway, let’s get back to the matter. Upon the first 15 seconds of the opener, ‘Corpse Holocaust’, I was telling myself "Oh no, they didn’t change and now they sound like a DISMEMBER clone". Alas, was I wrong! After 4 minutes and 24 seconds of relentless bashing I was craving for more. The only likeness these guys have with DISMEMBER is the brutal buzzsaw guitar tone and their general mid-paced approach to Death Metal. So, yes, the band has evolved and is covering every detail to move away from all those oblivious clones. BOMBS OF HADES crafted one hell of an album, full of catchy riffs and head banging beats. Which should be no surprise, as their line-up includes Jonas Stalhammar (UTUMNO, GOD MACABRE and ABHOTH), Butch Ekman (ABHOTH) and Magnus Forsberg from TRIBULATION; 3 experienced individuals well trained in the arts of Metal. Now, production wise, this release sounds like it was recorded back in ’91-’92. The excellent backbone provided by the drumming of Forsberg is only matched by the pounding bass work of Ekman and the fluent twin guitar attack, courtesy of P-O Söderback and Stalhammar. Last, but not least, Stalhammar’s vocals are the perfect round up to 30 minutes of reeking stagnant death. Oh, and I almost forgot the excellent cover of MASTER’s ‘Mangled Dehumanization’ (which only appears on the CD edition – Frank). A great way to end the album. If you are looking for inventive or innovative Metal, you won’t find it here. But if you are a fan of Death Metal, you need "Chambers Of Abominations" in your collection. Period. Contact the band and / or the label here: www.facebook.com/bombsofhades, www.bloodharvest.se

Alfonso Perez

Alfonso Perez

Related reviews / interviews:
BOMBS OF HADES - Death Mask Replica (Kunal Choksi)
BOMBS OF HADES - Atomic Temples (Marc Lehmann)
BOMBS OF HADES - Through The Dark Past (Anders Peter Jørgensen)
BOMBS OF HADES - Carnivores (Julián “Coffin” Núñez)
BOMBS OF HADES - Black Goat Chant / Nuclear End (Marc Lehmann)
BOMBS OF HADES - The Serpent's Redemption (Marc Lehmann)
BOMBS OF HADES - Carnivores (Thomas Ehrmann)
BOMBS OF HADES - Into The Eternal Pit Of Fire (Hacker)
BOMBS OF HADES - Interview (Marc Lehmann)

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