Stinking Up The Night is Nicke Andersson’s ode to the ancient Swedish death metal cult. It is, essentially, early Entombed, Dismember, and Grave all slapped onto one disc of unmistakably catchy, intentionally simplistic, and hilariously campy death metal. Every song is standard verse-verse-chorus-lead structure, and the lyrics are the funniest I’ve read in a long time. How can you go wrong with titles like Chopping Spree and Flabby Little Things From Beyond? The production is little better than 8-track fare, but appropriate for the cause and more than listenable. The riffs are generic and the fills predictable, but it’s impossible not to love this shit. The only thing missing is a Dan Seagrave cover. One that features collaged bits of pentagrams, Nosferatu, and Cthulhu is clearly on the right track though. Yes, I'm aware that this is a year old.
Jörgen Sandström (Grave) and Scott Carlson (Repulsion) make their respective cameos, hurling vocals as if caught in some kind of bizarre, blue-balled 19-year-old regression, only not really, as they are unthinkably washed up. The song Flabby Little Things From Beyond was clearly written with Scott in mind — or a majority of the Ruthless Forum. Either way, this disc is a must for any balding, achy-limbed metal fan in need of a trip down memory lane. Similarly, Death Breath should also appeal to the youngsters that stink up all-ages venues across the metal netherworld. Andersson must’ve realized that Entombed hasn’t recorded anything approaching compelling since Hollowman, and a project like Death Breath would create the perfect nostalgic outlet. Moreover, he must’ve remembered that drinking, having roadkill for hair, and playing old school death metal is something that stays in the blood.
The epiphany, according to Andersson, came when he read the book, Choosing Death. Whatever happened, it was surely jarring in its clarity because Death Breath reeks it up with even the most primal and fearsome beasts of the past. Since the unmemorable pages written about Repulsion were Carlson’s only 10 seconds of fame, I suppose it was relevant to have him do some guest vocals. While he does make for some fun listening, there could’ve been so many others hired for the task. Hello, Martin van Drunen? Dave Ingram? I’m not going to sit here and name off a rabble of arcane death metal geezers who could’ve filled in, but hopefully Death Breath will employ more guests in the future. The good news is that even if you’re not a fan of the old Swedish sound, there’s enough Autopsy/Abscess and early-Death influence to make you forget that you’re now an impotent, crackpot hesher. Cheers.
