Currently signed to Century Media Records, Firespawn are gearing up to release ‘The Reprobate’ – the follow-up to their 2015 debut, the brilliant ‘Shadow Realms’, which was given a respectable 7.3 out of 10 from our very own Jack Toresen. With no previous knowledge of Firespawn, one listen of any of their songs is all it would take to know the quintet hails from the frozen north – this is pure Swedish death metal. A quick look through the collective résumé of Firespawn’s members reads like a “best of” list of Scandinavian extreme metal: Necrophobic, Aeon, Dark Funeral, Unleashed, and of course, Entombed, and the group’s offshoot Entombed A.D, plus some of the members performing live with Naglfar, Six Feet Under, Witchery and Satyricon. If this list of previous projects doesn’t have you immediately interested, it should be noted that the voice behind Firespawn is one of Swedish death metal’s most revered personalities: L.G Petrov. Those familiar with the regional scene should know that anything Petrov is involved in automatically deserves a casual listen, at the very least.
There is a lot to be said for sticking to what you know you are good at, and enjoy. In today’s metal scene, bands seem to really be caught – if they deviate from their signature style, they are branded sellouts by the “datz not metullz” brigade. If a band sticks to the style they have carved out for themselves, they’re scoffed at, and looked down upon as unable to evolve and progress their sound. The ability to write and play in the same style you have played in for the majority of your career, and to still make it sound exciting and refreshing, if not ground-breaking, is something that should be admired. And that is exactly what Firespawn have done with ‘The Reprobate’. Every second of this album oozes classic, old-school, Scandinavian death metal, but at no point does it feel tired, rehashed, or boring.
“Serpent of the Ocean” opens ‘The Reprobate’ with a deceptive intro, that could have gone on for a few more bars, before diving straight into fast paced, savage sounding riff and drum work. “Serpent of the Ocean” sees Firespawn alternate between seriously brutal, fast death metal and an only slightly slower, groovy series of riffs with ease. Coming to an abrupt halt, ‘The Reprobate’ moves onto the disappointing “Blood Eagle.” A seriously brutal and otherwise great track, the issue with “Blood Eagle” comes from its length – at just over two and a half minutes, it’s over before it really starts. Where Firespawn, and, indeed, the vast majority of top-tier death metal bands, excel, is in longer songs that give both the band and the audience the time to fully explore and appreciate the song. For all it’s brutality, it’s short-lived nature leaves me wanting more from “Blood Eagle” than it can deliver.
With “Full of Hate” and “Damnatio Ad Bestias” Firespawn take the listener through serious of blast-heavy, brutalizing riff work. The latter is the stronger of the two tracks, and, in fact, with one of strongest tracks on the album, feeling catchier and with a bit more of the signature Entombed melody and atmosphere, and coming completely with a face-melting, shred-tastic solo that comes in at almost a minute long. “Death By Impalement” is just as brutal as it’s name suggests, though it opts for a more groove-focussed sound throughout, rather than unrelenting blast beats and wrist-snapping riffing. The whole track is pretty hooky, and will doubtlessly become a favourite for getting the grounding banging their heads. Firespawn continue this trend of near-perfection with the hook heavy “Generals Creed” and the utterly evil “The Whitechapel Murderer.” The pace picks up again with the blisteringly fast and shreddy “A Patient Wolf,” before slowing right back down into the groove-heavy, infectious riffing Firespawn have displayed a talent for throughout much of ‘The Reprobate’ with the album’s title track and closing song, the supremely catchy “Nightwalkers.”
Listening to ‘The Reprobate’ is exhausting, but in a very good way – it’s just so fucking heavy. Many of the riffs throughout the album are extremely groove focused, and utterly infectious, but without wandering into the death ‘n’ roll territory Entombed became known for with Wolverine Blues onwards. The leads are utterly blistering, and the melodies subtle enough that they don’t drive the album into a melodic death metal sound. The guitar work as a whole from Victor Brandt and Fredrik Folkare is absolutely mesmerizing. In addition, LG Petrov delivers one of the finest vocal performances of his career with ‘The Reprobate’, with his distinctive growl still clear enough to pick out each of the lyrics.
Whether ‘The Reprobate’ is worth your time or not depends entirely on what you are looking for. If you are needing something unique and innovative, Firespawn’s newest offering may leave you disappointed. Those that long for the Left Hand Path era of Entombed will certainly adore ‘The Reprobate’, as it advances on the ultra heavy, melody-tinged sound Petrov began his career with. This is pure, unadulterated, classic-sounding Swe-death – a perfect soundtrack for drinking beer, banging your head, and pillaging your local village. Refreshingly comfortable, though ‘The Reprobate’ isn’t ground-breaking, it is a damn fine death metal record that both die-hard fans and genre new-comers can enjoy. What it lacks in unique ideas it more than makes up for in skull-crushing ferocity and hook-filled riffs.