Bloodbath
Nightmares Made Flesh
Century Media Records
2004
Relentless Hunger
As much as the label can be both a blessing and curse, Bloodbath are a death metal ‘supergroup’ formed by Mikael Åkerfeldt, Dan Swanö, Anders Nyström and Jonas Renkse in 2002. In true supergroup style, by the release of their second album ‘Nightmares Made Flesh’, Åkerfeldt had stepped down from the vocals to concentrate on Opeth and was replaced by Peter Tägtgren of Hypocrisy and PAIN.
Although ‘Nightmares Made Flesh’ lost the creativity of Åkerfeldt, the album was a step forward, it allowed Swanö to step out from the shadow of Åkerfeldt and although he doesn’t’ need to prove anything, it served to remind us that Swanö is a legend in his own right, particularly with the strongest tracks on the album, ‘Eaten’, ‘Brave New Hell’ and ‘Stillborn Saviour’. Furthermore, it is not just Swanö which shines, Tägtgren debatably has the hardest job of all by following in Åkerfeldt’s shoes. However, Tägtgren steps up to the plate with ease with some excellent vocal performances on ‘Eaten’, ‘Cancer of the Soul’ and ‘The Ascension’.
It could have been easy to write off Bloodbath after their debut album and the departure of Åkerfeldt, but the band replied with an album which arguably could have defined their career. If you were to purchase only one Bloodbath album, then ‘Nightmares Made Flesh’ would be a good shout.
85/100
Adam McCann / MHF Magazine
