Swedish act Wombbath was originally formed in 1990 (shortly under the moniker of Seizure, but this was a name that went for just a couple of months). The band was active during the first half of the nineties, and did record two EP’s, respectively called Several Shapes and Lavatory, and one full length, Internal Caustic Moments. The latter was released in 1993 via France’s Thrash Records (a label I could appreciate a lot back then, with some hands full of EP’s and full albums during the earliest nineties). The band split up in 1994, and the members went on with other bands, like In Thy Dreams, Skineater or Steel Attack. Their sole full studio recording was put on vinyl in 2009 via Letargo Records, and re-issued once more in 2010 via Necroharmonic with inclusion of the band’s Brutal Mights-demo (1991), and the 1992-EP Several Shapes. Add one more bonus-song, called 20:13 Silence Unveiled, and we have this new re-issue through Pulverised. Oh yes, not that un-important: the re-mastering has been done by Dan Swanö himself…
One might expect a typifying Swedish-sounding album, but it is not purely ‘Swedeath’-alike. All right, the influences from the members’ home country cannot be ignored or denied at all. But in comparison to many fellow countrymen, Wombbath do not literally sound like a band from Stockholm, Eskilstuna, Gothenburg, Uppsala or Reutemeteut. Their sound is more trans-European, and for an early nineties-record, it turns out very well. Besides, when focussing on that era (two decades back in history), the production was (is) enormously decent, especially when you know that this band wasn’t that ‘huge’ at all for an era and a geographical situation that delivered hundreds of ‘popular’ acts. I do still wonder why Wombbath didn’t ‘make it’, for their approach was pretty refreshing. The material was chugging and grooving, and the tempo un-fast (yet not doomy either), which was not that ‘in’ back then. But indeed they did not reach the international media, so this re-release might put things right.
Another positive element, I think, is the simplicity of the songs. It’s straight-forward and it lacks of catchy gadgets, but it keeps the flame burning. Yet at the other hand, you might have had it after a couple of songs, for the lack of variation might get annoying after a while. I think it is worth mentioning the few ‘apart’ elements, like the addition of some keyboard lines and bells (listen, for example, to Abandon!).
When it comes to the demo and the EP, I cannot but go on the very same way as I did before. The material is strongly comparable to what the band did on their full album, and the sound too isn’t that bad at all for such an old release, done in circumstances that were much more primitive and less equipped than now. The bonus track, 20:13 Silence Unveiled, however, is slightly different. It’s much more aggressive, rhythmic, technical and fast than any past effort, and inextricably Swedish-sounding. But anywise, it is a great song that could please the average fan of Dismember, Grave and Dissection…
Imagine (and then I am referring to the oldest material, and not the bonus track I was writing about in the former paragraph) old Entombed, Hypocrisy, Therion or Rottrevore mingled with the likes of Bolt Thrower, Benediction and Mutilation, and you’ll have a clue of this band’s approach. Interested?...