We already heard from Rogga Johansson this year. Thorium‘s the name of the band and the man assisted with guitars and riffs, so I understand. A bastardly thingy that finally found our good graces somewhere down the road.
And as no year can pass by without multiple Rogga attacks, here he returns with his flagship act Paganizer. And we’re again in the meat packers’ district. Albeit, questions remain about what meat should be on the menu. The piece’s title – Flesh Requiem – made us throw a few pinches of salt over our shoulders. Remember, already Beyond the Macabre touted some track called Menschenfresser, so cannibalistic urges may prevail. And this filled us with foreboding. A hunk of succulent beef or mean human flesh sacrificed on Tyr’s mighty altar? That is the question. The answer will depend on who you ask. And as this is the 13th installment Paganizer releases, tribulation seems to be the route to take. This number does get us bad luck after all. Or is it the number 17 as some claim? We’re so confused.
Flesh Requiem latches on to where Macabre left off. Paganizer roars off down well-paved Swedish Death Metal roads at a pretty lusty pace. As usual, you get blistering riffs, a feisty solo here and there, and some run-of-the-mill drumming. But don’t get me wrong, the Death Metal on offer still sports a pretty hefty bite with a production that won’t let one sweaty hair get out of place. Raucous leads follow some subdued and frugal melodics you really need to look for. And all that moves forth at a pretty lusty pace, not too fast and not slow enough to insult our mean adepts of rough Death Metal with weak mid-tempo machinations.
Already the aforementioned Thorium record made you truly experience Johansson‘s heavy handiwork. And as busy as he is with his many other projects, he seems in no mood to slow down with his unceasing performance of traditional Death Metal. Meaning, you will get a friggin’ mountain of his relentless trademark growls and merciless axe work put to good use.
As to the massive 12-song tracklist, none of the songs move beyond four minutes of runtime, except Skeletons at the very end, that is. A somewhat repetitive bunch of tracks with little to stand out for. The only exception is World Scythe’s war-like samples and lusty riffing. This one indeed feels like the proverbial sore thumb of Death Metal excellence sticking out of a sea of pretty uniform extremes.
Unfortunately, Flesh Requiem carried too much of the same over from the past. The production is flawless, brutal to a point, and the delivery will undoubtedly delight many an Extreme Metal fan. But by and large, you get ubiquitous Rogga fare with the Paganizer moniker stitched to it. Good for some limited fun for an afternoon or two of Death Metal debauchery, but surely not for longer. And as to the flowery and somewhat puzzling promo description of the piece, we’re still searching for the – and I quote – “…soul-tearing melodies…”, with the band “…imbuing their music with emotive tunes.“ First, that definitely doesn’t sound like Rogga. Second, it made me wonder who or what on earth wrote that promo. This thing has got the nasty smell of AI all over it.1
But as to this AI-free crew, proficiently delivering much of the same muchness all over again didn’t lead to any cathartic metal moment this time. Instead, Flesh Requiem constantly screamed one word at us throughout its considerable airtime.
Predictable.
Record Rating: 5/10 | Label: Transcending Obscurity Records | Web: Official Band Site
Release Date: 1 November 2024
- A promo full of such weird and senseless little nuggets. Just sayin’. -Ed.-↩