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So this is pretty damn solid. I wasn't sure what to expect at first, as having no prior knowledge of the band, the name Bodyfarm completely reeked of vapidity. Fortunately the art is ace, and really has the old school death metal vibe going on. As for their sound, I will say it's to be expected of the current trends going on with the true brand of the genre. You know, that nineties Swedish sound, both in terms of production and music. However, Bodyfarm have some serious chops as well as songwriting skills and actually manage to bring something to the table you don't hear from your garden variety Entombed worship band.

The best way to describe the sounds on The Coming Scourge would be to imagine a cross between Dismember, Aeon and Hail Of Bullets, with a few hints here or there of mid-period Death, Pestilence, and even an odd spot of traditional metal. The overall sound is certainly familiar, but seriously, there's a lot of cool stuff going on here. Certainly many a moment where I sat back and thought to myself, "nice move", or "wow, that was unexpected". In fact every song houses at least one interesting moment, be it the melodic lead guitar melodies in "The Well Of Decay", which even flirt with Dissection/Sacramentum-style passages, or the shit-kicking epic metal riff that elevates the title track into the realms of excellent.

I honestly can't stress how much I appreciate the stamp of identity these guys have given to a well-established sound. It's not exactly anything new, but it's a breath of fresh air to see a certain degree of creativity going on. As such, the elements that would usually be a little faceless become icing on the cake and provide solid head-banging throughout. Thomas Wouters' vocals are spot on too, definitely in touch with the hoarse yelling style that I love from all those early Swedish death metal bands - give me this over token death growls any day. Whilst the lyrics aren't all that noteworthy, it's great to hear them in a decipherable form, and he still manages to convey all the necessary elements of aggression, disgust, and filth.

There's definitely nothing going wrong with this one, and in fact, I'd say this is one of the cooler death metal albums I've heard lately, although I am fairly picky with what I like given the style. Nonetheless The Coming Scourge delivers killer music, and I reckon it's a solid purchase for any true fan of the style. Plenty of ace riffs, neat ideas, and some classic conventions played honest and true. You just can't go wrong.