Review by Adam M on November 29, 2014.

The new Bloodbath has that Swedish sound en grained into it, but bolsters the proceedings with improved production values that accentuate an also somewhat doomy sound. These songs tear the listener to shreds with their power, but also manage to add a mood at the same time. This atmosphere is helped by the addition of Nick Holmes from Paradise Lost, which has always been drenched in melodramatic substance.

The result is an album that helps to carry the beacon for this style after the likes of Black Breath have had a similar role recently. The band has refined the Swedish style to a point where it is almost like a fine wine. In the future, hopefully the band tries some different avenues musically. The moments of aggression on the disc are heavy and enormous sounding, making for an album that has a lot of weight. New vocalist Nick Holmes fits the powerful riffing quite well and the overall musicianship finds a happy medium overall.

One of the strengths of Bloodbath’s new album is the consistency of the tracks. Rather than have one or two tracks stand out, the whole work shows a great deal of balance which helps the album as a cohesive whole. The storming beginning of the album is kept constant throughout the remainder of the material.

This style of metal has been taken from the early Entombed and Dismember material numerous times, but Bloodbath is one of the bands that are doing a worthy job of bringing it to the modern times. If you’re not a fan of this death metal sub-genre or the past works of Bloodbath, this album will do nothing to change your mind. But for fans of the style, Grand Morbid Funeral is about as good as it gets.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10