TRACK LISTING

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1.  Portals
2.  The Momentum
3.  Coffin-Shaped Heart
4.  At Takao River
5.  Severings
6.  In the Shadows of Leaves
7.  Death Meditations
8.  Penumbra
9.  Dying Codex
10.  The Aphotic Depths

Total playing time:  44:14

Release Date: April 25th, 2011
Label: Vic Records

Torchbearer - Death Meditations

Reviewer: J. A. Burt

August 25, 2011

Melodic Death Metal really seemed to be a genre that most people (myself included) wrote off about the time that Dark Tranquillity released Fiction in 2007, the year after Swedish band Torchbearer released their sophomore album Warnaments; an excellent album that while a bit of a step down from the more aggressive, blackish-hued debut Yersinia Pestis, possessed a heaviness uncommon to the style and hit pretty damn hard for a genre that was rapidly down-spiraling into mediocre metal-core lameness.  I lamented that I honestly didn’t think we’d see another album from the band, but now rejoice that they’ve resurfaced six years later with Death Meditations, reinvigorating a stagnant style while proving their superiority to the countless larger-known bands that receive the lion’s share of coverage and accolade.  A criminally overlooked band making one hell of a racket.

Again managing to sound heavier than just about any other melodic death band, Torchbearer truly create a wall of intense volume on “Coffin-Shaped Heart” showcasing guitarist Patrik Gardberg’s stunning lead work, and much like the rest of the band’s catalogue, Death Meditations is a master class of  a guitar  album that will really appeal to those who play the instrument.  The very Tales from the Thousand Lakes -era Amorphis-inspired. “At Takao River” retains the intensity level despite the slower tempo, and while “Severings” features a lyrical bit that never fails to make me chuckle: “Transforming into a werewolf, or a hate filled revengeful ghost” the opening riff is just fantastic, and the vocals wouldn’t be out of place in a much more brutal death setting.  The slightly folk-tinged title track contains more virtuosic lead-work and ups the bombast to such levels as to become the perfect example of what a melding of Death and Power metals should sound like.  The album is laden with keyboards, and I could definitely see their extremely conspicuous presence turning away the more brutally inclined, but I never found them to be particularly troubling.

Not a lot of people know about Torchbearer, but I hope that Death Meditations will be the album to rectify that unfortunate situation.  Underrated though they may be, they’ve released a monster of an album and deserve some recognition.  If you’ve ever been a fan of the melodic end of the Death Metal spectrum, this one’s for you.