Deathwitch has been out there behaving evil for quite some time and I’m impressed Nicke Terror (Swordmaster, Sacramentum) managed to construct 4 CDs worth of material out of it. I always thought this band was pretty funny since I first heard their Dawn Of Armageddon album a few years ago. Having heard little about the band since then, I suddenly received the Monumental Mutilations promo and, to my surprise, they’ve gotten way heavier and sound more like a serious band. This record is made up of 2 separate recording sessions (6 newer songs recorded November 1998 and 5 songs recorded back in May of 1997 during the last album, The Ultimate Death) plus a lame cover of Sepultura’s "Necromancer" that appeared on a tribute album by Black Sun Records. As the golden rule speaks, tribute albums suck and this track is one reason why. The original material has progressed from a thrashy flavor to generic, fast-paced Swedish death with few, simple riffs per song and vocals that remind me a bit of Repulsion (always a bonus). The really thick, meaty guitar tone helps keep the riffs listenable, the problem is they’ve been used before, a lot. Musical strong points include the opening track and "Total Cremation" (which appears on Necropolis’ Thrashing Holocaust compilation as well, a good choice to personify the album), with their varying tempos and kickass breakdown parts, as well as the re-recorded version of "Flag Of Black Death", a totally aggressive thrash anthem from the first album, Triumphant Devastation. The spirit of this band is still captured in what lyrics I’ve figured out (song titles & lyrics weren’t included in the promo booklet), "Possessed by fire, my morbid desire, the flames reaching higher…" from "Fire Fuck", for example. If their previous stuff is any hint, then maybe the rest of these songs could be equally as wry and enjoyable once you begin singing along, but don’t hold your breath…there’s very few bands whose lyrics make up for simple music, like War and Impaled Nazarene. As with many other bands they could have cut down the recording budget by throwing away the mediocre material and asking the label to pass the savings on to you, the listener, by selling this as a quality mCD (and hence selling more units I’d hope).

Written By: Abbas