It’s time for another deep dive into the horrors of mortality and the foul side of the supernatural - It’s time for Survival Of The Sickest! The sixth full-length album from Bloodbath, Sweden’s undisputed masters of old school death metal, will be unleashed on September 9 via Napalm Records. This is death metal at its ugly best: vicious, unrelenting and irrevocably sworn to the black.
The world is in flames, and Survival Of The Sickest, produced by Bloodbath and co-produced and mixed by Lawrence Mackrory at Rorysound Studios, offers no respite from the horrors of reality. Instead, with the addition of new guitarist Tomas ‘Plytet’ Åkvik (Lik) onboard, Bloodbath’s latest and greatest album gleefully confronts the slavering ghoul lurking in the shadows, and treats him to ten songs of ripping death metal frenzy. Alongside Bloodbath’s official alumni, Survival Of The Sickest boasts a smattering of irresistible cameos from the great, good and ghoulish of the metal underground, including Barney Greenway (Napalm Death), Luc Lemay (Gorguts) and Marc Grewe (Morgoth).
Alongside its pre-order kickoff, Bloodbath have released the crushing new single and album opener, “Zombie Inferno”, a thrashing death metal assault set to draw the listener into a lunatic outburst of ferocity. The song breaks in with anxiety-inducing riffs and the insanely killer vocals of Nick Holmes, and is visually highlighted via a fast-paced, gory music video, acting as a tribute to the glory days of 80s splatter flicks.
Bloodbath on “Zombie Inferno“: "One man's struggle to rid the World of Zombie Infestation that seems to have inconveniently taken over the planet. Particularly, as he's just refueled his 1969 Dodge Super Bee 440."
Watch the official music video, directed by Ash Pears and produced by Ash Pears for AshTV, below.
From the thuggish brain-smash of opener “Zombie Inferno” to the bleak, obsidian ooze of closer “No God Before Me”, Survival Of The Sickest is the sound of a great band in blistering form. In contrast with The Arrow Of Satan Is Drawn, which borrowed heavily from the blackened end of the death metal world, the new Bloodbath goes straight for the jugular in true old school fashion. With strong echoes of everything from Morbid Angel and Death to Deicide and Obituary, songs like the rampaging “Putrefying Corpse”, the disgustingly slow and heavy “Dead Parade”, and the deliciously twisted “Tales Of Melting Flesh” breathe fresh fire into an arcane, perpetually rotting formula.
Formed by Jonas Renkse and Anders Nyström (both of Katatonia), Mikael Åkerfeldt (Opeth) and Dan Swanö (Edge Of Sanity) in 1998, Bloodbath devoted themselves to resurrecting the increasingly forgotten art of pure death metal. In 2014, they unveiled a new frontman - legendary Paradise Lost vocalist Nick Holmes, now redubbed Old Nick - and yet another macabre musical evolution. With a line-up of Renkse, Nyström, Per ‘Sodomizer’ Eriksson (ex-Katatonia), Martin ‘Axe’ Axenrot (ex-Opeth) and Holmes, the only way to go was grim. On Survival Of The Sickest, Bloodbath evoke their most horrifying sonic scenarios to date, from the death-by-munching nightmare of “Malignant Maggot Therapy”, to the murderous nihilism of “Affliction Of Extinction”. A glorious comeback from a legendarily wicked musical force, Survival Of The Sickest provides yet more proof that Bloodbath are the kings of the old school.
Bloodbath add: "If there was a declaration of goods attached to this album, it would say Florida death metal exported from Sweden."
Survival Of The Sickest will be available in the following formats:
- Digisleeve CD Edition
- Digital Full Length Album
- 1 Tape Edition - Brown Transparent with blue print - limited to 200, Napalm Records Shop exclusive
- Wooden Box Edition (incl. Digisleeve, Mouse Trap, Album Cover Flag, Cover Patch) - limited to 500, Napalm Records Shop exclusive
- 1LP Sky Blue - limited to 300, Napalm Records Shop exclusive
- 1LP Dark Green - limited to 500, Napalm Records Shop exclusive
- 1LP Picture Vinyl - limited to 500, Napalm Records Shop exclusive
- 1LP Black
Pre-order here.
Survival Of The Sickest tracklisting:
“Zombie Inferno“
“Putrefying Corpse“
“Dead Parade“
“Malignant Maggot Therapy“
“Carved“
“Born Infernal“
“To Die“
“Affliction of Extinction“
“Tales of Melting Flesh“
“Environcide“
“No God Before Me“
“Zombie Inferno” video:
Bloodbath live dates:
July
1 - Barcelona, Spain - Barcelona Rockfest
2 - Viveiro, Spain - Resurrection Festival
August
10 - Jaromer, Czech Republic - Brutal Assault
September
9-10 - Hüttikon, Switzerland - Meh Suff! (performance day TBC)
24 - Monterrey, Mexico - Mexico Metal Fest
Bloodbath are:
Nick Holmes - vocals
Anders Nyström - guitar
Tomas Åkvik - guitar
Jonas Renkse - bass
Martin ‘Axe’ Axenrot - drums
(Photo - Ester Segarra)
