Death metal supergroup Bloodbath has finally revealed their new front man to be legendary Paradise Lost front man Nick Holmes. Long admired for his great vocal delivery and genius lyricism, this seems like an inspired choice. Their fourth album Grand Morbid Funeral will be released on the Peaceville label on November 18th. This announcement comes on the heels of Opeth‘s Mikael Akerfeldt retiring from the band to focus on his main group and other projects.
From The Press Release:
Stockholm, SE – Sweden’s master of horror, Bloodbath – notable for the inclusion of Katatonia and Opeth members – is set to release its fourth album of supreme death metal,Grand Morbid Funeral, onNovember 18through Peaceville Records. Following the departure of Opeth’s Mikael Åkerfeldt and months of speculation and rumor,Metal Hammer(U.K.) has revealed Paradise Lost’s Nick Holmes as the new vocalist of Bloodbath.
Blakkheim (guitar) commented, “Little did I expect to be working with the voice behind the death metal classic Lost Paradise, or the genre defining Gothic, and yet here we are decades later fulfilling another death metal dream. With his sinister and ominous vocal delivery, it’s an absolute pleasure to make Old Nick the bell-ringer in Bloodbath’s Grand Morbid Funeral!”
Jonas Renkse (bass) commented, “Ever since I got into Lost Paradise back in ’90, Nick Holmes has been one of my favorite growling vocalists out there. He was always audible and articulate but still deep and definitely morbid. It is a great pleasure to work with him some 25 years later after I was introduced to his thunderous roar!”
Recorded once again at Ghost Ward Studios and the City of Glass Studios in Stockholm, and mixed by David Castillo, Grand Morbid Funeral is undoubtedly the band’s darkest and dirtiest opus yet; an organic collection of filth-ridden tracks straight from the grave, boldly eschewing the approach of somewhat over-produced modern death metal in favor of something altogether more rotten to the bone.
With eerie, doom-like melodies mixed with raw and savage riffing, and featuring a number of guest appearances including Chris Reifert and Eric Cutler from U.S. gore-master, Autopsy, Grand Morbid Funeral is a new high-point of brutality for Bloodbath.
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