Since November of 2007 when I rediscovered why I loved Dismember while reviewing their last full length effort, The God That Never Was, I’ve been on a huge Dismember kick, listening to their music at least once a day. By the time their self-titled full length offering was released in February I was in the midst of three straight Dismember worshiping months leaving me primed and hungry for more material.

Dismember contains 11 tracks of blazing Swedish death metal with thick chunky bass tones, shredding riffs, blasting beats and inhuman yell/snarl vocals! From the opening riff to the closing cymbal smash this effort is pure old school Dismember. The music is high paced and aggressive, with an extremely powerful sound that’ll leave your skull throbbing.

There was one big change to the Dismember camp prior to this recording with founding drummer Fred Estby parting ways with the band after 19 years behind the kit. His replacement on this effort is Insision’s Thomas Daun who proves himself to be up to the challenge of filling Fred’s shoes, as he pummels his way through all 11 tracks like a pro.

Musically the material is a continuation of The God That Never Was, including the addition of more melodic death metal soloing added to "Under A Bloodred Sky" and "To End It All" with mixed results. Sometimes it flows with the material and gives a stronger impact to the material, while in other moments it just crams it’s way in and shoves the song structure aside.

One of my favorite tracks on Dismember is the slow, chugging "No Honor In Death" which is reminscent of Incantation’s doom style. Very crushing and powerful. This track alone is making me wish Dismember would record an entire album in this slow crushingly powerful Swedish death doom style.

While Dismember isn’t as flawless as The God That Never Was it is an excellent addition to the band’s impressive discography! If it weren’t for having to review recent Dismember and Sinister releases I’d likely still be ignoring old school Swedish death metal releases today, and I’m glad I’m back to listening to Dismember, Carnage, Entombed, Nihilist and Unleashed on a daily basis. Old school Swedish death metal rules and Dismember is a perfect addition to any death metal fan’s collection!

Review byTeufel