Released: October 6, 2008
Genre: Death Metal
Label: Peaceville Records
Number Of Tracks: 11
This album is a sampler of Bloodbath’s quality, fleshed out by mediocrity.
The Fathomless MasteryFeatured review by: UG Team, on october 17, 2008 0 of 8 people found this review helpful
Sound: Bloodbath’s lineup reads like the cast of a wet dream hosted through the subconscious of countless pseudo-intellectual message board warriors. The band through the years has featured no less than four figureheads in their respective bands: Mikael Ã…kerfeldt of Opeth; Jonas Renkse of Katatonia; Peter Tägtgren of Hypocrisy and Dan Swanö of, well, every Swedish metal band ever. Despite being so heavily involved in such big-time acts, the band has managed to maintain a reasonable output. 'The Fathomless Mastery’ is their third album, and the full length return of Ã…kerfeldt into the fold, with Peter Tägtgren having done vocals for their 2004 release 'Nightmares Made Flesh’. Also featured are Anders "Blakkheim" Nyström and Martin Axenrot, of Katatonia and Opeth respectively, as well as new guitarist Per "Sodomizer" Eriksson.
The ethos behind this 'supergroup’ is to lay down some fun, hard-hitting, old school death metal. Understandable, considering the level of stylistic wandering going on in the member’s main bands, but where Bloodbath has previously excelled, 'The Fathomless Mastery’ falls short. An immediate concern is the production, which is very reserved and does very little to stop the songs from fading deep into a mid-deprived murkiness. The smoothed corners of the guitars remove that chunky edge that was vital to Bloodbath’s grooves, and in the end a death metal mix that doesn’t instinctively punch you in the face needs something phenomenal musically to stand out. Unfortunately, Bloodbath can’t manage that this time. Even Martin Axenrot, whose fantastic drumming is now widely distributed through Opeth, doesn’t seem to do much that is particularly interesting. For a band that is meant to be focused on the old school sound, there is a disconcerting amount of tedious blasting going on. A few tracks do stand out as top drawer, but for some reason they are accompanied by some disposable banality rather than the truly sick tracks from the 'Unblessing The Purity’ EP they released earlier in the year, which, if included, could have made 'The Fathomless Mastery’ infinitely better than it actually is. // 5
Lyrics and Singing: A main attraction to Bloodbath is the presence of Mikael Ã…kerfeldt on vocals, something which especially interests me as Opeth’s latest album, 'Watershed’, had a very disappointing lack of his death metal vocals. Bloodbath will have none of that feminine melodic nonsense, and is instead packed full of Mikael’s delicious low growls, with which I have no complaints. The lyrics, like the music, are written by different members of the band, with the majority being shared between Anders Nyström and Jonas Renkse, with Ã…kerfelt writing the lyrics to Per Eriksson’s music. The lyrics are, interestingly enough, not half as graphic as Bloodbath’s prior output. Sure, most of the songs are still about hacking people up whilst sipping on a bone marrow smoothie, but at least this time around they are slightly more discreet about it. We still get song titles such as 'Devouring The Feeble’ and 'Slaughter The Will To Live’, but the lyrics themselves seem to be more based on the obvious moral and philosophical consequences of a massacre than the possibility of getting entrails on your shirt. // 8
Impression: I want this album to be great, I really do. All of their previous work has been great fun, but 'The Fathomless Mastery’ feels like a chore to get through. There are some tracks that match Bloodbath standard ('Mock The Cross’, 'Iesous’), but unfortunately there aren’t enough of them to make a whole album of great tunes. It’s difficult not to feel the absence of Dan Swanö on this album, and even a guest from another Swedish metal luminary, Christian Ãlvestam, can’t help this album live up to expectations. This isn’t the debut of a new 'supergroup’, this is their third album and unfortunately it just doesn’t live up to expectations, or the considerable message board hype. // 5
The Fathomless Mastery
Reviewed by:
bass_emagdnim, on october 20, 2008 2 of 2 people found this review helpful
Sound: I bought this album the day it was released, feeling as much as any other doting Bloodbath fan the excitement of 11 new tracks from the Swedish supergroup. I can say I've listened to it countless times since that day, and my verdict? Well...
When it's good, it's very very good. There are some really damn cool parts on this album, parts you can't help but nod your head to and smile stupidly to yourself at. Some of the coolest grooves I've heard this year reside on this CD: the beginning of Devouring the Feeble and one of the post-chorus bridges to Slaughtering the Will to Live to name but a few.
But. This album also has it's bland moments. Enough to make this album a little slow. And undoubtedly fast and tight as Axe's drumming is, at times he really doesn't help... in trying to keep it "old school" he can be quite monotonous to listen to. However there are a few exceptions: some rather inventive drum work in Treasonous diving in and out of triplet feel against the guitars makes for very entertaining listening indeeed.
I've also seen this album flamed slightly for it's production... whilst I can agree some features have lost their edge slightly (the bass in particular has lost it's sharp, raw presence since the EP released earlier this year) the guitar tone, to my ear, is commendable to say the least. Lacking though it may be in comparison with earlier works, the drop A chunky tubey quad-tracked (or maybe even more than that) sound in this album certainly adds depth. // 8
Lyrics and Singing: This is a death metal album, so it's safe to assume nobody's going to be paying a huge amount of attention to the lyrics. Though it's not quite as predictable as the bog-standard gore-filled outing, the lyrical themes on The Fathomless Mastery are as you would have expected. They do however fit in with the feel of the music, so one can't complain on that aspect. How they are delivered is much more enjoyable. I am an avid Opeth fan so hearing Mikey in a less progressive context is always good fun and I'm sure he enjoys throwing away the enigmatic Opethian dignity for the sake of screaming about gore and anti-Christianity for a death metal album. // 7
Impression: In conclusion I would say this is a solid effort by Bloodbath, though not up to the standards of previous work. It lacks a constant feel of energy, chunky guitaring and something else I can't quite place, it feels that they've tried to make this one heavier (the move to drop A is fairly solid proof) and in doing so lost something that Nightmares Made Flesh et al had. A shame as I really did want to give this album top marks, something I was expecting to do after hearing the highly promising Unblessing the Purity.
There are many standout moments in this album, but if I had to pick my favourite tracks they would have to be Treasonous and Devouring The Feeble.
This is far from a perfect album but still one I would listen to if I felt like a bit of a rock-out without having to pay too much attention to what's going on. // 8
A main attraction to Bloodbath is the presence of Mikael Åkerfeldt on vocals, something which especially interests me as Opeth’s latest album, ‘Watershed’, had a very disappointing lack of his death metal vocals
WTF?! man have you heard "Heir Apparent"?
Even in the lotus eater he has his moments
Watershed (off topic) is an absolutely brilliant album, nothing short of genius and among the top albums by Opeth (which admittedly to me consists of..every album they've done) *but enough Opeth ass-kissery*
The Fathomless Mastery, although not as good as Nightmares, is absolutely brilliant too, I think the problem between the two is the change in vocalists, the first album seems to go unmentioned a lot, perhaps Akerfeldt doesn't carry quite the same strength, his growls always strike me as more...refined, not to take value from Swanos vocals which I think are 10/10 brilliant, but his have a more brutal strength to them
I dunno I'm rabbling on, but either way, brilliant album, one I enjoy thoroughly on each listen
I have got to say, the EP made me extremely excited for the new album and I enjoyed the EP quite a bit, but I was let down. Quite average, nothing memorable.
Duncan is absolutely right, the latest Opeth effort was far too clean around the edges for me, I like the dark, murky growling Åkerfeldt as opposed to the angelic graceful clean one.
Åkerfeldts growling skills are certainly the highlight of the new Bloodbath record but on the whole I was left with the impression that it was pretty meh.
I agree that the sound is sometimes a bit murky but in my opinion, it goes well with the themes and general mood of the album. I'm sorry but this is definitely a very solid release and although all songs aren't as catchy as some of their previous stuff, they're still all worth a listen. Bloodbath remains as brutal as before, it's just that the sheer power of their sound has been replaced with more "dirty" and messy riffs that reveal a lot of their power and depth after SEVERAL listens. I insist on the fact that it takes some time to fully appreciate it. I can understand that one can be disappointed but two 5 and an overall 6 as a mark, just no, it's still ten times more solid than most Death Metal releases of the past 10 years. Well written review but too much focus on trying to overcriticize in order to look cool, in my opinon.
Honestly. Reminds me of Morbid Angel's "Domination". Seriously the first thing I thought about when I started listening to it. Anyone else hear the similarities?
I agree with the guy who said Watershed was lackluster...it was good, don't get me wrong, but there was something...off about it. It just wasn't what was expected, it doesn't really feel complete for some reason
I prefer Nightmares made Flesh. "Eaten" after all, is a masterpiece. But this is by no means a bad album. I personally don't get tired listening to it at all; I enjoy it immensely.
I wasn't disappointed by The Fathomless Mastery, but I wasn't impressed either. The music itself was pretty good, but I just have a feeling they didn't put as much effort into it as their last albums. But I do take into consideration, Opeth constantly touring, Katatonia touring as well so they probably just wanted to get it out. I do give two devil horns up to their good effort though.
Astyan wrote:
I can understand that one can be disappointed but two 5 and an overall 6 as a mark, just no, it's still ten times more solid than most Death Metal releases of the past 10 years. Well written review but too much focus on trying to overcriticize in order to look cool, in my opinon.
My opinon on this album has changed since I've written the review, it appeals more and more with each listen. But I stand by what I've said, there is a fair bit of filler on this one.
But to my knowledge, being critical over the internet just gets you into a pointless argument rather than looking cool. Besides, the whole point of album reviewing is to be closely critical, right?
And to back up Dream Pin's comment, pretty much ANY death metal release of the 90s is guaranteed to kick the ass of anything from the 21st century.
A main attraction to Bloodbath is the presence of Mikael Åkerfeldt on vocals, something which especially interests me as Opeth’s latest album, ‘Watershed’, had a very disappointing lack of his death metal vocals
WTF?! man have you heard "Heir Apparent"?
Even in the lotus eater he has his moments
Yeah, out of that one hour album, he does a bit of death metal in heir apparent which is awesome as btw. And Lotus eater has a little bit, and hessian peel. but the album gets a bit boring. especially coz after lotus eaters death metal part, there is none for like 25 minutes, until hessian peel. but yeah Watershed was good and so is The Fathomless Mastery.
Yeah, out of that one hour album, he does a bit of death metal in heir apparent which is awesome as btw. And Lotus eater has a little bit, and hessian peel. but the album gets a bit boring. especially coz after lotus eaters death metal part, there is none for like 25 minutes, until hessian peel. but yeah Watershed was good and so is The Fathomless Mastery.
Opeth is Progressive Death Metal, though. What makes the band's music so powerful is the evil growling but only because it's BETWEEN sections of clean guitar melodies and solos. Watershed did put some of the Death Metal aspect of the band aside, but it only helps making it more epic when it appears. I didn't feel Opeth's last album as soft in spite of all the clean singing, and the transition from calm to Death Metal in Hessian Peel is ****ing orgasmic.
I agree that I kind of overreacted on the "best DM release in ten years" thing, of course.
I couldn't agree more with that, i purchased the album about 2 months ago, at first i really didn't like it, i much preferred the resurrection through carnage record, but now i listen to it more and more and well....i really really like this album.
I dont really see how the first reviewer can call this thing 'slow'. What, there were 2 songs that were slow? Mock the cross and Hades Rising. Hades rising is probably the best song too.. pretty amazing melodic outro, which Bloodbath have never done before. THe guitar tones were aamzing as well.. most DM tones are those awefull buzzsaw tones, sounds weak and overused. Mayones ftw.
i love this album. it's a great example of melodic metal that is still amazingly brutal and evil, not like a lot of melodic death metal bands that have brutal verses and power metal choruses.
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Nightmares Made Flesh is still my favourite Bloodbath record, but TFM is pretty killer.