Mordbrand - Hymns of the Rotten

MORDBRAND - Hymns of the Rotten (DEFENSE Records - CD 2016)

I have to say that Mordbrand is among my favourite new death metal bands and I try to get all the stuff they release; all splits, EPs, albums, etc. So, I already have quite a nice bunch of stuff with their logo, missing basically only one vinyl (their early split with Evoke). But you know how it is with seven inches for example. They’re great collectors’ items, but you don’t listen to them often, right? So, an idea to compile all songs from seven inches plus some other splits into one CD is surely a good one. This is exactly what “Hymns of the Rotten” is. This CD, released by Defense Records, brings you songs from split vinyl releases with Evoke and Bombs of Hades, songs from “Kolumbarium” and “Vastation” singles plus the stuff from 7” split with Rite and a song from a little known Official Mass vol. 2 compilation. Nice collection, oh yeah! Even if I have majority of these songs on vinyl, I listened to this CD with great pleasure, just because I hardly even remember most of them and besides, on CD these songs sound even stronger and more powerful, when you turn the volume closer to the maximum. Oh yeah. The walls break, ears are bleeding, but I enjoy some excellent old school Swedish death metal, no regrets for the damages! But let me say one thing: if you don’t like Swedish death metal, then just skip this review, go away and do something else. There won’t be anything that may interest you here. But if you’re a fan and don’t know Mordbrand yet, then open your eyes for this excellent band.

As said above, I like Mordbrand a lot. Fuckin cool band, with some of the best songs and riffs out there. And with fuckin Per Boder on vocals! Yes! You don’t know who Per Boder is? Fuck off then. This CD starts with absolutely fantastic tune “Order of the Formless”, from split with Rite, and this is one of my favourite Mordbrand tunes. It’s just perfect, spotless, aggressive but also a bit melodic tune, with just 100% awesomeness. But later this CD is also super delicious. Obviously since “Hymns of the Rotten” is a compilation of songs from various releases, from various years and sessions, there are some sound differences. But the songwriting is always good, there’s not even one single song, which would be bad or crap. The tracklist order is from the newest to the oldest songs, but you won’t feel it, only the production can get slightly harsher sometimes. You can probably also hear that the earliest stuff, which is the Evoke split part, is good, but quite as killer as the newest songs. You could hear that their style was not perfected yet, even the vocals were not quite as good as they’re now, but the songs were solid and enjoyable anyway.

The best songs are those from “Kolumbarium” EP and “Order of the Formless”, in my opinion. They’re the stuff, which I wish Entombed was doing since “Clandestine” album. But how can I moan that Entombed sucks balls, if we have such a fantastic replacements? No point. Bands like Mordbrand are good enough to carry on the fantastic Swedish death metal traditions and thanks to them this style won’t extinct and be forgotten.

Did you know this compilation was also released in nice box, with some flammable shit inside? Damn, I guess it’s sold out now, but you can… you MUST… get yourself “Hymns of the Rotten” anyway, because this is super cool CD from absolutely fantastic band. Am I exaggerating? I don’t care what you think, I just like them a lot. Try it out then, but remember; if you don’t like Swedish death metal, then just don’t bother.

Standout tracks: “Order of the Formless”, “Consume Them”, “Let Them Slumber”

Final rate: 90/100