Revolting - Dreadful Pleasures

Swedish death metal is awesome. It's got all the stylings of '80s Swedish hardcore like Mob 47 and Anti-Cimex, but with the aggression and brutality of death metal. I don't know how anyone can not like this stuff, and Revolting is pretty much a modern exercise in oldschool d-beat brutality that any fan of Swedish death metal will love to get their hands on.

Revolting Rogga - Revolting's aptly name frontman, guitarist, and songwriter is quite possibly one of the most prolific musicians of the last few years. His credits include: Bloodgut, Bone Gnawer, Megascavenger, Paganizer, Putrevore, Ribspreader, Swarming, and The Grotesquery, and obviously Revolting. Their first release Dreadful Pleasures dredged itself out of hell in 2007 and with its cult horror theme, it was bound to be a fun little romp.

Fun it is indeed. "Tenafly Viper" sets the tone on Dreadful Pleasures. As one solid slab of campy schlock and gore, the '70s and '80s horror themes are realized perfectly by tracks like "Terror Has No Shape" and "Moonshine Mutation." Each track flows together like a B-movie horror marathon. There's numerous d-beat sections and simple chugging riffs on Dreadful Pleasures too. Although it might sound a bit shallow and simplistic, Rogga manages to weave hooks into each of them with the occasional lead interspersed amongst the heavy-ass riffing. It works wonders and gives Dreadful Pleasures a depth that might go unnoticed similar to all the satire and political undertones in the B-movies the album is inspired by.

Musically the album is entirely hook-driven. There are vocal hooks, lead hooks, and d-beat hooks all throughout the entire thirty minutes of Dreadful Pleasures. The production aids the simple riffing and guitar tone by creating a solid low-end with extra texture. Some of the tracks are a bit more derivative, which can be expected in a sub-subgenre where you essentially have to sound like everyone else to be a part of it. "Video Vixen" is a bit uninspired, and the slower tracks like "They're Not Human" and the title track take a bit to get into. Otherwise the album is a solid debut by what is quickly becoming a force in the Swedish death metal scene.

7.5 out of 10

Tracklisting:

1.	Tenafly Viper
2.	Terror Has No Shape
3.	Overtaken by the Crawling
4.	They're Not Human
5.	Moonshine Mutation
6.	Video Vixen
7.	Brainwaves of Death
8.	Sheetar the Bloodqueen
9.	Dreadful Pleasures