Bloodwork is an old school death metal outfit formed in the festering stench of London in 2003. They have released the ‘In His Death’ demo (2004) and the ‘Insufficient Flesh’ EP (2005). They were influenced by the surrounding dead as they rehearsed in the rotten underground crypts of run down churches. Sometimes they ventured forth with rare live explosions across London, Europe and South America. The time to see the light of day has come again and they now seek to leave an indelible aural stain with the release of their full length debut ‘World Without End’ (November 2013).
To fill in some background, it is worth noting that the band members have all attended the alternative Christian church, Glorious Undead that is based in Camden, London. The inspiration behind the name ‘Glorious Undead’ lies behind the war memorials that can be found around London. Often these war memorials have the inscription,’ To the Glorious Dead’ in honour of the men and women who fought in various wars. The name ‘Glorious Undead’ is a spin-off from the war memorials and means those who know Jesus are alive in Him and are no longer dead in sin. They also organise Destruction Fest, which featured Drottnar in 2012.
This album has been more than two years in the making and features Jeff Mortimer (lead vocals & guitar), James (vocals, guitar & bass), Michael (vocals & guitar) and Jon (drums). Since the recording, they have been joined by Ben Martin (The Order of the Black Sheep) on bass. In keeping with the mood, the cover art was painted by Necrolord and the album is released by Endtime Productions (Scandinavia).
Forget all about those atmospheric intro tracks. They start off with a dark theme and move into breakneck speeds for ‘Deny The Fallen’. Hidden within the unpenetrable vocals are anti-satanic messages “No more shall you twist our faith into chains / For the great God of old spilled his blood / To free us from your domination”. Whilst ‘World Without End’ looks at earthly desolation compared to eternal life. Then it’s a headlong charge into ‘Hypocrisy Of Hate’, which is about the pointlessness of misanthropy.
There are several changes in tempo throughout the progressive death metal of ‘Escaping The Abyss’ which features guest vocals by Darren Taylor and Grey Fraser. There is a chaotic mid-section and then the pace slows to a doomy trudge. “Powerless to resist when evil calls / surveying my scarred flesh / Praying to Christ to release me / I cannot overcome the demons I have called”.
Michael stated “For us most of the tracks are a mix of the styles and bands we like best – death, black and a bit of doom, all old school stuff as none of us like anything with core in it. The favourite track to play (for all of us except Jon the drummer as he likes blasting!) is Escaping the Abyss as it is the slowest and heaviest. The others are intense as well but in a different way. This one is better to head bang to! The lyrics are about self harm and being involved in the occult, and how it’s a dead end road and only Christ can set us truly free from it.
‘Shadow Aspect’ is heavily-percussive, but also incorporates a riff-based speed metal approach, before moving into a barely restrained second half. “Aspect of shadows deep within the mind / the dark side of our nature we try to ignore”. As you might expect from the title, ‘King Of Chaos’ soon throws off its restraints. And ‘Chasm’ incorporates significant time changes as it looks at different counterpoints “Is Jesus a path to freedom found by some / the church a symbol of tyranny for others”. Finally ‘Dreaming Future Memories’ looks at how our sinful nature is overcome by holy blood.
Rating: 8/10
Reviewed by Peter John Willoughby
Tracks:
Deny The Fallen
World Without End
Hypocrisy Of Hate
Escaping The Abyss
Shadow Aspect
King Of Chaos
Chasm
Dreaming Future Memories
Band members:
Michael – guitar/vox
Jeff – vox/guitar
James – guitar/vox
Jon – drums
Ben – bass
Record label: Endtime Productions, Nov. 2013
Buy the album here:
Holland: First Paradox
Norway: Nordic Mission
USA: Metal Helm
Video below “World Without End” [Album Teaser]