Gorement - Within the Shadow of Darkness – The Complete Recordings (2012)

Aside from the monstrously hideous 'Human Relic' demo, I really don't give a rat's ass about the rest of the material here, which perfectly falls under the category labeled 'Generic Swedish Death Metal', and boy oh boy is that category filled to the fucking brim!

I'm sure all the "OSDM" wannabes will be farting out hymns of praise to honor this band, but truthfully I've heard the style of death metal that Gorement apes done much better by the likes of Carnage, Entombed and so on. Again, the only thing worthwhile here is the remastered tracks off the 'Human Relics' demo. I've always been a fan of pitchshifted vocals (ala Dismember's 'Defective Decay', Entombed's 'Premature Autopsy') and Gorement goes fucking ballistic with that concept here, adorning each and every track (sans the intro) with a generous coating of pitchshifted insanity! Unfortunately, all of the band's material onward is mired in mediocrity from the generic, powerless vocal performance down to their anemic renditions of sub-standard Swedish death metal.

I will say that if you are a fan of Gorement or the classic Swedish death metal sound, then this should sate you until the next discography of some long forgotten Swedish cult comes rolling around the bend. However, if you actually prefer quality over quantity then you may just want to let this one go by, though the inclusion of the 'Human Relic' demo makes it an almost mandatory purchase. Bastards!