Dismember reviewed

Dismember
untitled
(Regain)

They don’t get as much credit as Entombed — rightfully so — for shaping Swedish death metal, and in turn “death ‘n’ roll,” but Dismember were side-by-side in the trenches during the early days. It’s only fitting the band make a full return to the early days on their new album.

Just don’t call it self-titled! Technically, the album is untitled – “It just plain doesn’t have a title,” vocalist Matti Kärki recently told Revolver. More importantly, though, it’s the first Dismember record without drummer/producer/chief songwriter Fred Estby, who early last year left the band he helped form in 1988. The band’s other remaining members – guitarist David Blomqvist was a founding member and Matti Kärki was the vocalist on their first LP – felt Dismember still had something to offer, though, and were obviously right. “Europa Burns” and “Tide Of Blood” and really everything on the album sloshes the soggy, downtuned, bottom-heavy sludge that originally earned them a following. The only real surprise here is how brazenly Blomqvist and fellow guitarist Martin Perrson rip off Iron Maiden on “Under A Bloodred Sky,” hardly even attempting to hide their plagiarism. Dismember also sound a little too much like Entombed at times (“The Hills Have Eyes,” “Legion”) but that’s not such a band thing in our book.

– Trevor Fisher

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