Review by Jeger on September 11, 2024.

Sweden’s renowned death metal scene has been one of dissonance, one of brutality, and also one of tragedy: Entombed, Dismember, Bloodbath, and a dude you may not have heard of: the Sverige Son of Death (made that up) himself, the prolific Rogga Johansson. The man plays in about 1000 bands and has been a true underground champion since the late ’90s with a little outfit you may have heard of - Paganizer. Boasting a comprehensive discography featuring 12 LPs, a slew of EPs, compilations, and splits, Paganizer operate much like a black metal band - always toiling the underground - creating some of the purest and untainted by the mainstream extreme metal the world has ever lain ears upon. And yes, they also sound like Entombed. More nuanced, though, and more melodic. Refined and harmonious death metal that crunches and bulldozes like that monster truck, Gravedigger, from back in the day. Every album is like a death metal Monster Jam… This Fall, as the world around us begins to die and as the Autumnal death grip takes hold, an offering of the flesh will be made. On November 1, 2024, worldwide, Paganizer will unleash Flesh Requiem via the always aqua and the always fucking brutal Transcending Obscurity Records. 

Where to begin… We’ve got cannibalism, Vikings, necrostuff, and world demise, packaged up beautifully with cover art by Mariusz Lewandowski and engineered by some dude who I don’t feel like looking up, but nonetheless did an incredible job producing this record. I just love how they do death metal overseas. The USDM scene is just a fucking pissing contest to see who can sound the best, but over in countries like Sweden, Ireland, England, and even Australia, death metal is nothing more than an uncomplicated celebration of the macabre. Fuck all the technical mumbo-jumbo, because you can’t conjure up images in someone’s head of unspeakable grotesqueries when they’re too busy listening to the guitarist jerk himself off… Flesh Requiem - a balanced recording that begins in classic fashion with 'Life Of Decay' - getting gradually more elaborate with every following cut until you get to 'World Scythe' and blow your load. What a treat, a little Gothenburg melodicism to keep things more than just interesting. Thunder-cracked skies welcoming in series upon series of stunning riffs: the flow, man, like chakras and shit… 

A wise approach to everything here from the lyrics to the album’s multilayered yet evenly measured compositional layout. Unpredictable but safe in a good way, an experience akin to riding around through Jurassic Park in one of those indestructible bubble-mobiles, just spellbound by the scenery and navigating the terrain confidently. Death metal that will definitely have you banging your head or possibly buying a Volvo. Can’t say enough good things. You could listen to this thing for a year and not get tired of it. Paganizer - a little secret tucked away in Sweden like that body in your backyard - a gem of a band who just put together the death metal album of the year, at least in my book. You guys know you have to follow this up at some point, right? 

The very best for last… 'Skeletons' features lead guitarist, Dennis Blomberg at a playing vantage that not even the greats can dare. What an ear for melody and what a touch: fundamental, sexy, and stylistically comparable to guitarists like Shatraug (Horna, Sargeist), or dare I even say Steve Clark (Def Leppard), or the greatest of all fucking time, Mr. Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits) - like a guitar god - inspirational and triumphant, not breaking any barriers, just keeping true to a rich history of Sverige extreme metal melodicism and doing it in ways that feel familiar like an ‘80’s montage or a Big Mac. Guitar performance of the year material (they don’t actually have a guitar performance of the year). 

Take a step back from the music you’re making if you’re in a death metal band and ask yourself if the music is something you can feel or if it’s something that is simply manufactured, because every cut on this record penetrates to the core: mind, body, and spirit, and it should always be that way, at least to a certain degree. That’s how perfection is achieved and how “winning is done!” (Rocky). Maybe I’m just super high, but I’ve been doing this for a while and this is some superlative, brilliant, magisterial! death metal. I’ll be listening to it every day. You won’t because you don’t have the promo… Just clear your calendar when it comes out. November 1, 2024 Transcending Obscurity, Paganizer, Flesh Requiem… Cum on it!

Final Score: 10 out of 10