Artist: Paganizer

Album Title: Behind The Macabre

Label: Transcending Obscurity Records

Date of Release: 24 June 2022

Welcome one and all to another instalment of ‘Matt drops the ball’, or as I prefer to call it, my review of Swedish death metal stalwarts Paganizer’s twelfth full length release, ‘Behind The Macabre’. It feels like the more music I review, the more I need to discover, because more and more, I notice great big gaping holes in my knowledge and appreciation of heavy metal in all its forms. Admittedly, straight-up brutal death metal is always going to throw up plenty of examples given my relatively recent conversion to the genre, but to know almost nothing of a band that has been around since 1998 and have a back catalogue longer than my arm is more than a little chastening. Turn it around, though, and the positive is that I have another clear candidate to be explored and added to my album collection.

Enough of that though – let’s get down to business and talk about the latest album to emerge from Sweden at the hands of Rogga Johansson (vocals and guitars), Matthias Fiebig (drums), Martin Klasén (bass), and Kjetil Lynghaug (lead guitars). And what a great beast ‘Behind The Macabre’ is. If, like me, you’re a fan of dirty and pulverising death metal that’s loosely based on the ‘Stockholm sound’ and is blessed with some gnarly riffs and just the right amount of well-placed melody and groove, then pay attention because you won’t want to miss this.

The moment that the spiralling leads duel with a heavy, dirty riff and uncompromising rhythm section within the opening seconds of ‘Down The Path Of Decay’, you can tell this could be a really fun ride. The vocals of Rogga Johansson are deliciously deep and gravelly, just as the ugly music demands, but the pace of the song is varied, from fast sections to more measured and slower groovy parts. And even though the pace never reaches the warp speed seen with other bands within the death metal scene, it’s never meant to. Instead, the angle of attack is in the depravity of the material, as well as the pulverising strength.

Mind you, ‘Left Behind To Rot’ is a generally faster track, full of energetic drumming and fast-picked riffs that come close to knocking on the door of the black metal scene. But again, the pace is cleverly varied, and whether fast or slow, the song is laced with a surprising amount of catchy melody to counteract the heaviness. There’s almost none of that to be found on the hilariously named ‘Meatpacker’ which decides to just pummel us into the ground with sheer strength of the riff and blast beats. Nevertheless, I love the end product because it’s just so unapologetically brutal and groovy in a steamroller kind of way.

If there’s a negative, it’s that there are what feels to be a couple of fillers at the heart of the album, or at least a couple of songs that don’t hit the mark quite as powerfully as others; to call anything a filler on an album as strong overall as this feels perhaps a bit unfair.

Unsurprisingly, my favourite tracks are those that dabble with a little more melody, such as the excellent ‘Sleepwalker’. It batters my ears with a frenzied double-pronged attack of drums and guitars at the beginning before injecting a lot more atmosphere, albeit dark and evil atmosphere which feels intense and claustrophobic. But the melodic lead guitar solo that pierces through the gloom alongside a more upbeat and catchier riff is marvellous.

The closing stages in particular of ‘Raving Rhymes Of Rot’ bring with them a whole heap of enjoyment in the form of rampaging melodies alongside the naked aggression of Paganizer’s more standard death metal depravity. ‘Menschenfresser’ by contrast delivers all of the groove in a song that’s pulverising, but a whole heap of fun too, whether or not it is meant to be ‘fun’.

The unequivocal star of the show, however, is the fantastic ‘You Are What You Devour’. Purists may argue that this song sees Paganizer pushing the envelope too far, but I would disagree for what it’s worth. None of the sheer power and menace is lost, as large portions of this song seeks to attack the listener with ferocity. But this is blended with far and away the most melodic and earworm laden material to be found on ‘Behind The Macabre’. It even features a key change for added potency, whilst the lead guitar melodies overlaying a chugging riff near the end are utterly delicious, especially when blended with a blood curdling scream from Johansson.

If all of this wasn’t enough, the final track on the album, ‘Unpeaceful End’ features a guest vocal appearance from Bolt Thrower’s Karl Willets. It’s a fitting collaboration because the unmistakeable tone of Willets’ growl dovetails perfectly with what is a much slower, more doom-infused death metal stomper of a track that’s also the longest single composition on the entire album.

I fully appreciate that dirty and gruesome death metal won’t be to everyone’s taste, but then what’s new at manofmuchmetal.com hey? I like to bring readers a bit of everything that I like, so expect the beautiful and the ugly to mingle side-by-side. If you’re a fan of the more extreme side of the heavy metal spectrum, I can highly recommend this latest effort from Paganizer because ‘Behind The Macabre’ is a truly excellent album that hits the sweet spot between old school brutality and memorable songwriting. I just wish that I’d dived into death metal more deeply in years gone by because it feels more and more that I missed out on some great bands and super music. Better late than never though, and I’m delighted to have finally joined the Paganizer fan club.

The Score of Much Metal: 91%

Check out my other 2022 reviews here:

Philosophobia – Philosophobia

Darkane – Inhuman Spirits

Exocrine – The Hybrid Suns

Fallen Sanctuary – Terranova

Deathwhite – Grey Everlasting

Charlie Griffiths – Tiktaalika

Seven Kingdoms – Zenith

Brutta – Brutta

White Ward – False Light

Winds Of Tragedy – As Time Drifts Away

Tim Bowness – Butterfly Mind

Denouncement Pyre – Forever Burning

Truent – Through The Vale Of Earthly Torment

Wind Rose – Warfront

Kardashev – Liminal Rite

Artificial Brain -Artificial Brain

Seventh Wonder – The Testament

Kreator – Hate Über Alles

All Things Fallen – Shadow Way

Def Leppard – Diamond Star Halos

Lord Belial – Rapture

Buried Realm – Buried Realm

Stiriah – …Of Light

Remains Of Destruction – New Dawn

Crematory – Inglorious Darkness

IATT – Magnum Opus

Iris Divine – Mercurial

Decapitated – Cancer Culture

Bekmørk – The Path Nocturnal

Septic Flesh – Modern Primitive

Blut Aus Nord – Disharmonium – Undreamable Abysses

Drift Into Black – Earthtorn

Spheric Universe Experience – Back Home

Outshine – The Awakening

Cosmic Putrefaction – Crepuscular Dirge For The Blessed Ones

Zero Hour – Agenda 21

Scitalis – Doomed Before Time

Morgue Supplier – Inevitability

Visions Of Atlantis – Pirates

Evergrey – A Heartless Portrait (The Orphean Testament)

OU – One

Haunter – Discarnate Ails

Aara – Triade II: Hemera

Pure Reason Revolution – Above Cirrus

Demonical – Mass Destroyer

I Am The Night – While The Gods Are Sleeping

Haunted By Silhouettes – No Man Isle

Delvoid – Swarmlife

LionSoul – A Pledge To Darkness

Watain – The Agony And Ecstasy Of Watain

Dischordia – Triptych

Dragonbreed – Necrohedron

Audrey Horne – Devil’s Bell

Vanum – Legend

Stone Broken – Revelation

Radiant – Written By Life

Skull Fist – Paid In Full

Hurakan – Via Aeturna

Incandescence – Le Coeur De L’Homme

Imminent Sonic Destruction – The Sun Will Always Set

Monuments – In Stasis

Soledad – XIII

Viande – L’abime dévore les âmes

Credic – Vermillion Oceans

Postcards From New Zealand – Burn, Witch, Burn

Darkher – The Buried Storm

Treat – The Endgame

Bjørn Riis – Everything To Everyone

Destruction – Diabolical

Et Moriemur – Tamashii No Yama

Angel Nation – Antares

Wolf – Shadowland

Denali – Denali EP

Centinex – The Pestilence EP

Meshuggah – Immutable

Chapter Of Hate – Bloodsoaked Decadence EP

Ancient Settlers – Our Last Eclipse

Tranzat – Ouh La La

Playgrounded – The Death Of Death

Father Befouled – Crowned In Veneficum

Abbath – Dread Reaver

PreHistoric Animals – The Magical Mystery Machine (Chapter 2)

Kvaen – The Great Below

Michael Romeo – War Of The Worlds, Part 2

Dark Funeral – We Are The Apocalypse

Carmeria – Advenae

Agathodaimon – The Seven

Moonlight Haze – Animus

Hellbore – Panopticon

Konvent – Call Down The Sun

Idol Of Fear – Trespasser

The Midgard Project – The Great Divide

Threads Of Fate – The Cold Embrace Of The Light

Arkaik – Labyrinth Of Hungry Ghosts

New Horizon – Gate Of The Gods

Cailleach Calling – Dreams Of Fragmentation

Tundra – A Darkening Sky

Sylvaine – Nova

Hath – All That Was Promised

Sabaton – The War To End All Wars

Kuolemanlaakso – Kuusumu

Oh Hiroshima – Myriad

Godless Truth – Godless Truth

Shape Of Despair – Return To The Void

Eight Bells – Legacy Of Ruin

Embryonic Devourment – Heresy Of The Highest Order

Serious Black – Vengeance Is Mine

Allegaeon – Damnum

HammerFall – Hammer Of Dawn

Immolation – Acts Of God

Veonity – Elements Of Power

Nightrage – Abyss Rising

Arjen Anthony Lucassen’s Star One – Revel In Time

Pure Wrath – Hymn To The Woeful Hearts

Dagoba – By Night

The Last Of Lucy – Moksha

Arð – Take Up My Bones

Embryonic Autopsy – Prophecies Of The Conjoined

The Devils Of Loudun – Escaping Eternity

Cult Of Luna – The Long Road North

WAIT – The End Of Noise

Abysmal Dawn – Nightmare Frontier

Amorphis – Halo

Nordic Giants – Sybiosis

Persefone – Metanoia

Vorga – Striving Toward Oblivion

Mystic Circle – Mystic Circle

Nasson – Scars

Burned In Effigy – Rex Mortem

Silent Skies – Nectar

Celeste – Assassine(s)

Abyssus – Death Revival

SOM – The Shape Of Everything

Ashes Of Ares – Emperors And Fools

Beriedir – AQVA

Lalu – Paint The Sky

Nocturna – Daughters Of The Night

Battle Beast – Circus Of Doom

Lee McKinney – In The Light Of Knowledge

Descent – Order Of Chaos

Aethereus – Leiden

Toundra – Hex

Ilium – Quantum Evolution Event EP

Power Paladin – With The Magic Of Windfyre Steel

Necrophagous – In Chaos Ascend

Infected Rain – Ecdysis

Wilderun – Epigone

You can also check out my other reviews from previous years right here:

2021 reviews

2020 reviews

2019 reviews
2018 reviews
2017 reviews
2016 reviews
2015 reviews

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