Reap
Reincarnage
•
November 18, 2019
The first album from Sweden's REINCARNAGE, "Reap," is to be released on Nov. 17. Featuring eight tracks of blisteringly fast and brutal Death Metal, this full-length takes Swedish Death Metal to a new summit of brutality.
The album starts out strong with "Antipathy," a brutal take on old-school Swedish Death Metal. The track goes from zero to 100 within seconds, accelerating into this monstrous album with ease. The track goes through riffing passages of melody and heaviness to slamming breakdowns that are bound to tear up any venue they're played in.
What is shown on "Antipathy" is common throughout the album, especially on "Northern Throne," one of the album's highlights. The song is lightning fast with riffs that leave fire in their wake. It starts with a clean guitar intro that quickly and flawlessly delves into one of this album's most brutal songs.
"B.B.O.B." transitions into "Blood Moon Rising," a calm yet eerie interlude which introduces the title track. "Reap" is one of the strongest songs here with multiple melodic sections, all of which are stunning. The track shows the best side of the band's ability to wire music, with different passages and segments all of which invoke a sense of inspiration into the listener.
"Psychotic Influenced Hysteria" shows some of the best riffing on the album with a highlight on the use of layered guitar work. The use of harmonics works in the main riff especially and makes an appearance in the strong breakdown, which was the shining moment of the track.
There is not a single track on here that is not good in some way. In fact, each song is memorable in some way. This helps the album flow very easily throughout its 34-minute runtime. The production also helps by making it more bearable. The production is smooth with a small amount of grit, and it complements the guitar tone perfectly.
Overall, "Reap" is one of the best old-school Death Metal revival albums released this year. The band takes a lot of influence from DISMEMBER and "Clandestine"-era ENTOMBED. The riffing is tight with plenty of Hardcore Punk influence and very complex, melodic segments. As a whole, the album shines as a true gem of 2019.
10 / 10
Masterpiece
Songwriting
Musicianship
Memorability
Production
"Reap" Track-listing:
1. Antipathy
2. Hour of the Werewolf
3. Northern Throne
4. B.B.O.B.
5. Blood Moon Rising
6. Reap
7. By Violence Be Purged
8. Psychotic Influenced Hysteria
9. The Would That Will Not Heal
Reincarnage Lineup:
Andreas Björnson - Guitars & Vocals
Christian Fredriksson - Guitars
Kristian Karlsson - Bass
Johannes Eklund - Drums
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