Consistency and identity – albeit a distorted, perturbed sense of being – are the cornerstones of the second album of The Lurking Fear – the “ugly step-child” (according to Tomas Lindberg Redant) of Swedish melodeath rejuvenants At The Gates. There has been a conscious effort to double down and to make clear what was originally “just” a side-project is, why it exists, and just what it’s purpose is. Indeed, as the parent group have taken further strides to redefine and push themselves since their return, particularly this year, so too the offspring has engaged in a campaign of scent-marking; defining their own identity on Death, Madness, Horror, Decay’(Century Media). 

And there does appear to be an inverse proportionality in the relationship: the further At The Gates deviate from the expected meloDeath left hand path into more blackened and progressive territory, the more The Lurking Fear hold the centre ground and provide the Death Metal. Obviously, with such a distinctive vocalist as Lindberg, and with ATG companions Adrian Erlandsson and Jonas Stålhammar in the camp, there are moments, such as ‘Architects of Madness’ where the lines of distinction are more blurry than at others, but the dirty tones, intent, rumble and brand of riffery maintain the integrity of The Lurking Fear. 

The first four tracks fly by in under ten minutes – a barrage of scuffed up, chunky Swedish Death Metal with hints of grind, before the title track ups the ante, swinging fists to start with, then a menacing Entombed-esque refrain leads us to an ominous and bruising mid-section, before the bridge back to the main song is unleashed (sic). ‘In A Thousand Horrors Crowned’ is a furious grind, while ‘Ageless Evil’ is gloriously old-school in its juddering battery. 

There is an honesty to The Lurking Fear, whose ethos appears not a million miles from Bloodbath in this respect as while the Death Metal on display harks back, very willingly, to the past, in the hands of such eminent and credible practitioners it is handled with grisly care, and savage abandon in equal measures. One of the most pleasing factors of this release is the sense of enjoyment and enthusiasm that is inescapable and that permeates every track – they even get to live out youthful dreams as Autopsy stalwart Chris Reifert howls into the abyss on discordant aside ‘Kaleidoscopic Mutations’. 

There is nary a let up, other than to explore a doomier path here and there, and as another punky offering ‘One In Flesh’ barrels by, tenth track deep, powered in the ways that only a fresh and vibrant Erlandsson can do, the neck begins to complain, though only briefly before powering on to see you through to the end, and murky closer ‘Leech of the Aeons’. 

Death, Madness, Horror, Decay proving itself a fine companion piece to The Nightmare of Being indeed.

Buy the album here: https://the-lurkingfear.lnk.to/DeathMadnessHorrorDecayID

8 / 10

STEVE TOVEY