Vomitory – All Heads are Going to Roll
Release Date: 26th May 2023
Label: Metal Blade
Bandcamp
Genre: Death Metal, Swedish Death Metal, D-beat.
FFO: Bloodbath, Autopsy, Dismember, Grave.
Review By: Eric Wilt
Here in America, when I hear a type of death metal characterized by buzzsaw guitars, unbridled tempo and aggression, and growled vocals, I instantly recognize it as Swedish death metal. I guess if you live in Sweden, you’d just call it death metal. Today, I have the pleasure of reviewing the new offering from Swedish death metal greats Vomitory. Entitled All Heads are Going to Roll, Vomitory return from the grave to release their first album of new material in twelve years. Despite waiting over a decade to produce new music, on All Heads are Going to Roll, Vomitory continue to pursue the bludgeoning, relentless death metal that they are well known for. This is due in part to the fact that the band has boasted the same line-up since 2005. Made up of Erik Rundqvist on vocals and bass, Urban Gustafsson on guitar, Peter Östlund on lead guitar, and Tobias Gustafsson on drums, All Heads are Going to Roll is the return that I and many fans have hoped for since their hiatus began in 2013.
Vomitory has never been subtle with their imagery, and with song titles like the title song, Ode to the Meat Saw, Piece by Stinking Piece, and Raped, Strangled, Sodomized, Dead, they make it very clear that they are here to spew forth the same type of horror-influenced imagery that past songs like Raped in their Own Blood and Terrorize, Brutalize, Sodomize presented. If you’re a fan of death metal, the imagery, as well as the artwork and music itself, will make you very happy.
Musically, Vomitory isn’t straying far off the path they’ve beaten for most of their career, but why would they want to? While the band aimed to make the choruses more distinct than they have in the past, overall, what you have on All Heads are Going to Roll are ten songs of relentless, bludgeoning Swedish death metal that will fit in quite nicely with the band’s discography. The title song is a balls-to-the-wall banger that keeps the gas pedal on the floor. Decrowned is an anti-religious track, the music of which is as brutal as its lyrics. On Ode to the Meat Saw, Vomitory introduces a little melody into the mixture, though it contains as much D-beat aggression as the other songs. The songs continue on in this way, mixing the brutal grinding of songs like Disciples of the Damned and Dead World to the melody of songs like Raped, Strangled, Sodomized, Dead, to round out what is a more than solid outing by the veterans of Swedish death metal.
On All Heads are Going to Roll, Vomitory is not trying to rewrite the rulebook. Instead, they are picking up right where they left off, with bludgeoning Swedish death metal that is aggressive and relentless. I, for one, am glad to have them raging again, and I have no doubt that this new album will please fans old and new.
(4 / 5)
