Register Forgot login?

© 2002-2024
Encyclopaedia Metallum

Privacy Policy

Deathwitch > The Ultimate Death > Reviews
Deathwitch - The Ultimate Death

Violent 80's-styled death-thrash via late 90's Sweden - 85%

Historian, March 18th, 2007
Written based on this version: 1998, CD, Necropolis Records

One of Niklas "Terror" Rudolfsson's many projects, the third album sees Deathwitch shift somewhat from the crude black metal of their first two records, bringing to the fore instead the style and approach of many of the 80's most extreme thrash bands, such as Sodom, Kreator, Celtic Frost, Slayer, Sarcofago and Sepultura. Each of those bands' early release are often retrospectively regarded as either proto-death metal (eg Sepultura, Slayer, Celtic Frost) or black metal recordings (Sodom, Kreator, Celtic Frost again). Deathwitch take the lead from those heady days by playing largely rough-and-ready high-speed death-thrash here, albeit with increased speed and aggression. At this mid-point in the band's existence, along with the follow-up "Monumental Mutilations", the band can be said to have reached their own high-water mark in terms of quality, due largely to both attention to detail and the use of some minor variation in the song-writing department.

The album opens with a brief atmospheric keyboard intro, a motif used several times on the album, sometimes more effectively than others (for example, the ominous build-up of the keyboard piece "Dawn of Ymodos Millenium" would have been much better placed far earlier in the album). The title track begins the album proper, with raging thrash-riffs and very fast thrash drumming, bordering on blast-beats, and occasional death-metal bridge-muting. This is the blueprint for the vast majority of the album which follows, including highlights such as "Necromancer's Rites", "Dark Gift", "Revel In Sin", "Monster Perversion" and my personal favourite, "Deathmachine".

Whilst not necessarily providing anything new here, the music retains some crucial qualities during the album's finest moments - memorable choruses, catchy energetic riffing, and most importantly - a sense of danger/threat. This last quality is integral to the rush the music provides and the band really do go hell for leather here for the majority of the album. At its best moments, this record sounds incredibly aggressive with both guitars and drums blazing away frantically, whilst maintaining something of a raw and vital quality.

This formula is interrupted for the two long songs on the album (tracks 9 and 13), both of which surpass the 5 minute mark. For both tracks, the pace slows considerably for their majority, relying instead on atmosphere, and in fact at times sounding like they could have appeared instead on one of the early albums for one of Rudolffsson's other projects, Runemagick. In all honesty these are the two tracks I like the least, but will no doubt please those who also enjoy his doomier output.

The vocals are suitably evocative of the more extreme sounding vocalists of the late 80's, mainly in the form of an angry snarl which occasionally gives way to a more throaty roar. Fittingly, many of the songs are interspersed with actual death growls in accordance with early 90's death metal. Rudolffson's relatively clear enunciation during the simple choruses generally lift even the weaker songs (eg "Witches Morbid Lust") whilst the lyrics concern the standard range of themes for this type of metal - blasphemy, the occult, violence and sodomy.

Later albums tended to simplify still further, perhaps as Rudolfsson attempted to further emulate the sound and stylings of his 80's idols, and consequently lack the variety and depth shown on this and the follow-up release (most of which was comprised of 'left-over' material from the sessions for this album). However, the sheer drive and aggression on display on this tribute to the great extreme bands of the 80's should please fans of the aforementioned bands and early 90's death metal alike.