Guys, I am not going to lie to you - I love Dismember! Their debut album "Like An Everflowing Stream" (1991) was one of the first Death Metal releases that I've ever bought, and their style, which combines Swedish-sounding heavy riffs with melodic guitar choruses and solos, is amongst my personal favourites. It was sad to see such a great act falling into a five year hiatus during the period between 2000 and 2004 but the release of "Where Ironcrosses Grow" showed a band that has the energy and is still capable of producing good quality music.

Even though Matti Karki (vocals) was insisting that the band's intentions to record many more albums in the future, I knew that the wellbeing of the Swedish quintet would depend on the success of "Where Ironcrosses Grow", and I assume that it did quite well indeed, seeing as one and a half years later, Dismember are back with their new testament of melodic brutality that's entitled "The God That Never Was".

Now, if the reason that made "Where Ironcrosses Grow" so successful was the fact that it sounded like an old-school Swedish Death Metal release, then "The God That Simply Was" is simply going to be worshipped by the fans of this genre. This eleven-track album has everything that people would hope to get from a Dismember release: catchy fast pace guitar riffs, brilliantly conceived melodies, horrendously brutal vocals and imaginative but pretty straightforward drumming. The opening track of the album "The God That Never Was" is indeed a good composition, but it is the twin-guitar solo in "Shadows Of The Mutilated" and the perfect combination between the aggressive and melodic parts in "Time Heals Nothing" that brought tears of happiness to my eyes! Yes, this is what real Death Metal is all about!

I found the band's decision to continue with a darker and more back-to-basics composition such as "Autopsy" to be of great interest. The band decided to kill speed in favour of atmosphere, and one should check both Matti Karki's vocal performance, as well as his quite disturbing narration in the ending section of the song. "Never Forget, Never Forgive" and "Trail Of The Dead" are both based on some really good ideas, but they are not half as good as the instrumental "Phantoms (Of The Oath)". At this stage, and after having bombarded us with some mind-blowing melodies, the album takes on a slightly different direction. Having decided that the riffs should have a more leading role, the band managed to make songs like "Into The Temple Of Humiliation" sound slightly out of place, and that makes the album sounds slightly less coherent than it should, but that is a minor problem, since they made sure to reward everybody in the end with "Where No Ghost Is Holy" - probably the best Dismember composition in recent years!

I don't know what the expectations were for the new Dismember album, but I cannot see why anybody could claim to be dissatisfied by "The God That Never Was". These five Swedes sound more in tune and confident than ever, and with the knowledge gained these last couple of years, we can only assume that the future is theirs.

****½

Review by John Stefanis