Bloodbath brings their Swedish death metal background to the table, but The Fathomless Misery has a lot of American death metal influences as well. The songs are straightforward and brutal with a mix of technicality and groove. Intense riffs and blast beats played at full throttle slow down enough for the melody to take root, and then take off again.
In Opeth Akerfeldt does a lot of melodic singing along with death metal growls. Bloodbath has no singing at all. Akerfeldt is an excellent death metal vocalist, and he uses several different approaches and deliveries on the album. Former Scar Symmetry vocalist Christian Älvestam also makes an appearance on one song.
Side projects bands like Bloodbath are a good excuse for friends to get together and have fun. But The Fathomless Mastery along with their previous work shows they are a legitimate death metal band that fans want to see and hear more from.
(released October 28, 2008 on Peaceville Records)
