Consumption – Catharsis

Band: Consumption
Title: Catharsis
Label: Dusktone
Release date:  January  31st,  2025
Country: Sweden
Format reviewed: High-Quality Digital Recording 

By listening to “Catharsis”,  the new album by Consumption, you are in for a great Death Metal ride, old school style. Because this trio of well-experienced Swedish musicians will infest your brain with earworm riffs, putrid vocals, steaming drums, and outstanding guitar solos. If you still don’t know the artists behind the band, let me introduce them:

Håkan Stuvemark – vocals, guitars, bass
Jon Skäre – drums
Ludvig Johansson – guitars (lead)

Each one of them are truly committed to their job, and they are not newcomers at all in the Metal scene, as they three have been playing since years ago and in several bands… To be so productive and involved in so many things at the same time, I’m sure it’s not only about the Nordic fresh air or forests, haha… 

“Catharsis” clocks around 50 minutes and it’s made up of 12 tracks, between 3 and 5 minutes each. Old school is their motto, the drums pace is varied and the string work is simply vicious. I’d refer to their style as “rottenly obsessive”, as the vocals come out of a corrupted and necrotic throat while being cradled by guitars and bass, and you slowly lose your sanity as the album progresses. 

Some things that get me hooked on this album and make me listen to it again and again are its 90s vibes; the dark and bone-crushing ambiance that these guys create in each song; the goosebumps I feel when drums go from mid tempos to non stop pummeling with high energy, in an instant turn; the deep and audible bass making my guts move and swirl… Definitely, “Catharsis” has too much going on and deserves more attention. From the initial seconds in “Exterminator”, with Jon destroying his drum kit and pushing you into a hellish opener track; to the closing “Iron Faith”, where Ludvig shines with his accuracy at solos; passing through a bunch of 10 other tracks with Håkan infesting your brain cells with his gruesome growls that make you wanna go and check if he is a human being or a walking dead… And the omnipresent throbbing bass, and tons and tons of catchy riffs, woahh please let me breathe a bit… 

The icy on the cake is the artwork, a fantastic gore painting by Felipe Mora, conveying the perfect sense of bloody fest for this album. 

I have the impression that this is a very underrated band, and their members deserve more recognition. They are carving a solid career with Consumption (this is their third full-length album since their started in 2020), along with the other bands they play in (in case you are a metal obsessed like me, please check the other works by Jon, Håkan and Ludvig and try not to drown under all that overwhelming weight!). 

Are you ready for the gore ride?  9/10  by  Sílvia

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9/10  Epic Storm
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