Review by TheOneNeverSeen on February 1, 2023.

When it comes to Bloodbath, most seem to praise "Nightmares Made Flesh" more than anything else. My personal favorite, however, has always been (and will remain) the band's debut. While not being revolutionary in terms of its riffs or vocal style, it's certainly one of the most memorable death metal albums in terms of the sound, and it remains one of my favorite works in the genre.

The opening track, possessing an OK riff and a rather conventional solo instantly plunges at you with an illegally thick guitar tone, which is insanely brutal and remarkable. Unlike some deathcore bands that try to make everything as low-tuned and thick as possible and end up sounding generic and bland, "Resurrection Through Carnage" does a great job at creating a heavy and distinctive guitar sound. The clean drumming, mostly offering casual death metal blast beats fits it perfectly, and so do Åkerfeldt's hoarse vocals. Although I'm not a fan of Opeth and his singing on their most famous songs, here he is merely impeccable. His voice sounds like evil in its purest form. The backing vocals, accompanying Åkerfeldt's infernal singing are also very solid, adding to the album's wicked atmosphere.

As for the riffs, they vary between excellent and fine. Ironically, I'm not a fan of the album's main "hits" ("So You Die" and "Like Fire"), but some of the less famous tracks ("Buried By The Dead", "Trail Of Insects") offer some of the most vicious riffs I have ever heard. Not all songs are mindless terror in your face, "Death Delirium" and "The Soulcollector" have a rather mysterious and even creepy mood as well as awesome breakdowns. The best song is undoubtedly the closing track, "Cry My Name". Besides having a sick riff and the feeling of beholding the world collapse in madness, it is overall very consistent and changes from one epic part to another (the melody following the second repetition of the chorus is as cool as the main riff, for instance).

The lyrics are mostly satisfying, although simple. Some songs are weaker than others in this sense, but what remains consistent throughout the album is how memorable certain lines are. Most songs are chorus-oriented, which means you will most likely want to sing "VERMIN INSIDE YOU, CONTROL YOU, DEVOUR YOU" and "AND FOR ALL ETERNITY YOU WILL CRY MY NAME" along with Mike.

So, this album is a true bloodbath. The malicious guitar sound combined with the inhumane vocals and powerful headbangable riffs (particularly on "Buried by the Dead", "Bathe in Blood" and "Cry My Name") create a brutal, atmospheric sound that I never get tired of coming back to. And, while I enjoy Bloodbath's later works, too, especially "The Fathomless Mastery", nothing can compete with the grinding might of "Resurrection Through Carnage".

Rating: 9 out of 10

Review by Krys on November 7, 2002.

Even though their three-piece “Breeding Death” was probably the most often listened EP by me ever, after a full spin through “Resurrection Through Carnage” only one question entered my mind that should start and end this review indicating my opinion regarding this quartet. Can you guys leave your original bands to make Bloodbath a fully functional band? Nothing against original acts here, I would say it would even be a huge loss to the metal community, but the excellence of this album plus my unconditional love for death metal makes too deadly a combination for my brain cells to appreciate anything else.

This is simply unfair to the rest of death metal world. You play metal for your whole life and end up making a name for yourself and then 4 guys that don’t even perform anything close to death metal in their main bands create a project and simply destroy the competition with their “debut” album. Mike Akerfeldt (Opeth) entertains us with his best performance yet, ever overshadowing anything he did in Opeth in lower section of his vocal department; Anders Nystrom (Katatonia, Diabolical Masquerade) rips through the guitar neck like there’s no tomorrow with riffs that make Chuck Schuldiner proud (smiling up there in death metal heaven). Jonas Renske (Katatonia, October Tide) pounds my gut into convulsions every time he hits the string and backed up by Dan Swano (Edge Of Sanity, Nightingale) on drums they molest my neck muscles with barbarian force. To put it in simple terms “Resurrection Through Carnage” will rip your head off from your corpse, piss on your neck and repeat that sequence with every drum or guitar stroke.

With the sound of the Swedish death scene from almost a decade ago manicured to perfection in today’s studios, combined with atmosphere of early Death albums, Bloodbath created an ultimate blend of those two worlds know to any metal maniac. Crisp and powerful, stripped to the basics death metal presented in its purest form “Resurrection Through Carnage” will stand for years to come as a genre’s redefining moment and secure a place in books of metal history next to its biggest names. Did I mention intelligent and thoughtful lyrics? Consider it as a textbook example of putting thought into lyrics.

Bottom Line: You tend to forget you girlfriend/wife’s birthday date? That’s understandable, but if you miss November 12th release date of this masterpiece carnage will be your only resurrection.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 10
Atmosphere: 10
Production: 10
Originality: 10
Overall: 10

Rating: 10 out of 10