Zombie Destrüktion
Tales Of Morbid Mummification
7.6
Metal bands have a way of telegraphing their music with their aesthetic decisions, especially with the names they choose for themselves. You’re all familiar with this, no doubt; a band whose name ends in “—ation” and involves medical jargon is probably a goregrind band, a band whose moniker is a prepositional phrase that includes “blood,” “sky,” or a month is a metalcore act, and et cetera. After you absorb enough of this kind of crap it becomes real easy to make snap judgments about bands about whom you know little more than their name and a few song titles. Such was the case with Sweden’s Zombie Destrüktion; with the goofy umlauted name and song titles like “Braaains!,” “Decapitating Ninja Death Cult,” and “March of the Mummy Brigade,” I was expecting some raunchy throwback thrash in the vein of Ghoul or Deathchain. Instead, I was treated to an extremely solid slab of modern Swedish death metal that tops the recent output of many far more experienced death metal acts.
All unsigned bands tend for obvious reasons towards rough productions, and oftentimes the production on an independent metal band’s disc will be so horrendously poopy that whatever musical goodness was available is lost in an avalanche of grainy guitars and tinny drums (*coughcoughBLACKMETALcough*). Such is fortunately not the case on Tales of Morbid Mummification. These guys sound as professional as you please; though the guitars are perhaps not as dense as they might be, each instrument—including the bass guitar—is audible, clear, and fully organic in tone. This is especially important considering the sound Zombie Destrüktion are purveying here—a blend of rollicking Entombed death’n’roll, buzzing Stockholm melody, and a hint of American technicality and humor. The quality production and tight performances allow these short, intense tracks to breathe, and it’s a damn good thing too. There’s a lot of genuinely infectious music to be had here; from the crazed rock’n’roll lope of “Decapitating Ninja Cult” and “Mummified in Mexico” to the flensing melodies of “Mutate to Mutilate” and “Brothers in Gore,” Zombie Destrüktion have some serious songwriting chops working in their favor.
Though this is hardly a perfect release—a pedestrian, underpowered growler and some sloppy guitar work take the edge off Tales of Morbid Mummification in places—it’s a damn fun listen. Though they don’t do a whole lot you haven’t heard before, Zombie Destrüktion employ their riff-crafting capacity and professional attention to detail to great effect. This debut is remarkable if not exactly essential listening; I expect great things from this bunch in the future.
