The Swedish Brutal Death Metal outfit DERAGED has, apart for a year long hiatus between 2008 - 2009, been active since 1991, and ″Deeds of Ruthless Violence″ is their tenth studio album. The band has gone through heaps of line-up changes, but in the past ten years or so the line-up has been more or less steady, and the past three albums only lacks the current vocalist Johan Bergström (PANDEMONIUM, VISCERAL BLEEDING, ANÜS). The man who links the present to the past is Rikard Wermén, the original drummer.

With a bit of exaggeration, the band could be dubbed the Swedish CANNIBAL CORPSE. Their debut ″Rated X″ is a fan favorite in their discography, its sound could be described as a dirtier, grindier take on CANNIBAL CORPSE. It is really a Death Metal classic, in my opinion, and if I had to recommend one DERANGED album, it would be this one. ″Deeds of Ruthless Violence″, which has been released by Agonia Records four years after their previous album ″Struck by a Murderous Siege″ shows the band in a relly good shape creatively and as performers too.

What makes this band fun to listen to is that they know how to strike a ballnce between full-throttle pounding and groove, which is accidentally CANNIBAL CORPSE's winning formula as well. Their music is full of bare-knuckle aggression, but there often are catchy grooves in the songs as well. The guitar leads and solos also sets it apart from grimy, pummeling Brutal Death like DISGORGE or BRODEQUIN. The individual songs are engaging because of the variety in riffs and rhythms, but also the album overall feels quite varied.

You'll find blasty CANNIBAL CORPSE-esque ragers like ″Engulfed by Hate I stab to Kill″ or ″Level of Lividity″, but then you have groovy, mid-tempo cuts like ″Carnal Provision for the Rotten Masses″ or ″Quarantine Required for Living Entities″ too, which are also some of my favorite tunes on the album, especially the latter song has some really cool vocal lines. But as a whole ,the album is a big fat slab of good 'ol Death Metal that's fun to listen to. The performances also sound tight, there some nice guitar solos, the drumming is on point, there are some cool wild bass lines here and there, and Bergström's vocals sound commanding and not forced. You know they're the kind of band that goes on stage and knock everyone sock's off.

If you like your Metal a bit brutal, but with good hooks at the same time, here's a couple of good songs about guts and corpses and ripping bodies open with a knife, that you shouldn't miss.