Ribspreader - Crypt World (2022)

When it comes to Rogga and his thousand death metal projects, I've long since lost the pulse. And who could blame me, because while I was fully on board and interested back when there were just a dozen, I don't think I ever expected the 'central' bands like Paganizer and Ribspreader to remain so prolific through all these years, while so many others were spawned. Yet here we are, with the 9th full-length offering from the latter, and I'm not sure I can properly distinguish it from others by Revolting or whatever else is still kicking around, it's just such an onslaught of middling-to-decent material that I feel like certain chunks could be intermingled, interchanged and none would be the wiser. The rub is that the guy knows his aesthetics damn well, and on almost any album across his career, you can find yourself nodding along or outright headbanging to the finer riffs and leads, and isn't that what matters?

Crypt World has the cool cover artwork that brings you back to the 90s classics, an image that transports you into some cosmic horror/Lovecraftian otherverse where the brutality is the twisted architecture, and sky is grim and you are hopeless flesh to be twisted into the annals of death metal history. The mix is fully competent, with the crunch and burn of the guitars out front, not entirely embracing a typical Swedish HM-2 pedal style tone, but certainly amenable to those seeking that. The riffs range between your fun, flexing d-beat style and then more structured thrashing or Floridian evil. His vocals are gruesome and ugly gutturals, but not too low-pitched, and frankly they feel a little repetitive and underproduced although he does hit some sustain on certain lines and tries not to grow terribly monotonous. I think it's a weakness of this and numerous other efforts, and a bit more time mixing them against the snarls or the thicker riffs would do wonders to make this more memorable. Drums are workmanlike, bass almost never matters through the nine tracks, used only as some concrete reinforcement to the sum battery of the style. The slight industrial metal feel to first verse of "Good Hatchet Fun" is a cute surprise, but not that elaborate.

Quality of riffing itself is solid, nothing too unique or progressive, but there's variation between more open, doomy chords (in "The Bone Church" chorus) and writhing tremolo-picked bits, and some of them sound appropriately menacing and evil despite the factory-churned feel of the production. The leads are a highlight here, whipping and frenzied and often brief, but ramping up the atmosphere that the meat & potatoes death metal lacks elsewhere. Lyrics and song titles are pretty sweet, though they seem like they're pulled from some Rogga AI-generation because of the similarity to so many others, but as I hinted above, the guy just has such a handle on this style that inspired him that he's one of its most ardent emulators and participants. Any time I think I might fall asleep, he knows how to slightly perk my attention with some cutting riff, but as I have thought so many times in the past, what if he merged some of these projects together, took more time refining the best of his ideas, forging the best goddamn throwback death metal the world over? I think he might just do that if he wasn't Rib-spreading himself so thin, and though Crypt World is an effective enough disc, fun for a couple spins, it just can't be more because it feels so slated into a schedule.

Verdict: Win [7/10]
 
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Ribspreader - Meathymns (2014)

Rogga Johansson's death metal proliferation certainly leaves him at the disadvantage of spreading himself a little thin, and Ribspreader itself seems to have been a victim of the process. This was actually one of the first of his projects I got heavily into, but beyond the first couple albums I felt there were some diminishing returns as far as my excitement level. Recently, The Van Murders and the Kult of the Pneumatic Killrod double album were both decent offerings, but nothing to whip me into a frenzy like his work with Putrevore or Revolting, and Meathymns sort of continues this process of meting out solid, competent but ultimately somewhat ineffectual death metal with a heavy emphasis on the Swedish sound that so inspired Rogga in the first place.

This is a concise record that knows exactly what it's on about. Beefy rhythm guitars with a lot of thrash and punch to them which I'd liken to a blend of Heartwork-era Carcass, Dismember and Entombed, though the riffs are about 50/50 hit or miss in terms of becoming engraved on the listener's memory. A handful of more melodic tremolo picked riffs strewn about the grisly landscape, and a lot of low-end to the album in general thanks to Rogga's impenetrably consistent guttural which anyone used to Ribspreader, Revolting or Paganizer would be intimately familiar with. The drums generally shuffle along at a d-beat clip or similar pace which works well with the sinewy muted guitars, with a snappy enthusiasm to the snares. Lead guitars don't play a major role here, apart from some sporadic melodies, and I also felt like the bass lines weren't heavily involved in building an atmosphere, rather just adhering to the guitars and amplifying that bass. There are a few atmospheric breaks with dirty but less saturated sounding guitars, but they're not quite effective, and I'd have a hard time imagining Ribspreader go any further down this route...though I admit that the thought of several of these tunes with "Chapel of Ghouls" style synthesizers added might be refreshing.

Anyway, as the album title clarifies, this is meat & potato old school death metal which bears the loyal seal that its creator has stamped on dozens of records in the past decade, and there's not a lot more to rave on about. If you've been listening to the genre for that amount of time or longer, then it's easier to dismiss this as another jaunt down memory lane, a singular direction which lacks nuance and distinction among even Rogga's own body of work.  That said, there's very little of this guy's output which lacks at least some capacity for charm, and though a lot of the tunes suffer from excess sameness, it was fun to headbang along for 20-30 minutes. Not much of a transition or progression from that 2004-2005 period in which Bolted to the Cross and Congregating the Sick were unleashed (still the best from this project), but fans of Grave, Unleashed, early Dismember/Entombed or the first two Bloodbath discs might find in this a reliable backup to their favorites. I continue to admire Rogga's zeal for the genre, but I can't help but think that if he trimmed down the number of creative outlets he was involved with, the remainder would be that much more inspirational. Meathymns was a pretty average experience among his considerable canon.

Verdict: Indifference [6.25/10]

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Ribspreader - The Van Murders (2011)

Rogga Johansson is not a man known for the tricks up his sleeves. He does death metal. Swedish, old school death metal, to be specific, and with very few exceptions (The 11th Hour, Those Who Bring the Torture and a few more), all of his projects offer only faint steps and deviations on the formula, often as skin deep in variation as those he's collaborating with at the moment. He wears this brutal badge with honor. Many of his works could be seen or heard as approaching the same goal from multiple vectors. He's tried his hands at conceptual work like The Grotesquery or Bloodgut. Carnal, Razorback style fun like Revolting. Primitive acts of pungency like Foreboding or the excellent Putrevore. Then, of course, there is a trio of 'main' bands, those that offer the higher production standards which can run headlong into the other titans of Swedish retro death like Bloodbath or Evocation.

Along with Demiurge and Paganizer, I would consider Ribspreader to occupy that central niche. You already know what it sounds like. Grave, Entombed, Dismember, Unleashed, and the others that shaped generations, with a healthy level of Florida brutality. The guitar tones are as massive as you might expect, and they swerve between choppy, death/thrashing rhythms and dense grooves. Perhaps more so than the previous three albums, The Van Murders really takes its slower strokes to heart, tons of double bass accenting the tank-like force. There are definite parallels here to Bolt Thrower, as in "The Cleaner and Mr. Filth", "Sick Minds Think Alike" and "Slaughterhouse on Wheels", which churn with eternal, warlike force until the more enthusiastic lead breaks, which are well written and almost without exception heighten the experience to something more than the brute minimum.

It's loud, mixed well by Patrick Bruss here in the States. It's also fun, but so weren't the older albums, and a large percentage of what Rogga has recorded. But does Ribspreader do much here to distinguish itself from the pack? I'd argue no. The Van Murders is about the same level of quality as Opus Ribcage or Paganizer's 2009 album Scandinavian Warmachine. Good enough that the diehards of this style will appreciate it for what it is, but Johansson's had a lot of better material out in the past few years (try the Revolting sophomore The Terror Threshold or the past few Demiurg discs). Rogga knows exactly what he's doing here. If there were any living soul who could write the handbook on how to approach authentic, old school Swedish diabolism, it would be him. The audience for The Van Murders is already well in place, and its entertaining for a few spins, but I don't see this as any sort of breakthrough.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

http://www.myspace.com/ribspreaderofficial

Ribspreader - Opus Ribcage (2009)

We all know by now not to judge a book by its cover, and in the case of the 3rd Ribspreader full-length, you should try to ignore the horrendous artwork. Perhaps they were lax in getting this out, or perhaps it is some failed attempt at minimalism, but it's an eyesore best avoided.

The album itself doesn't fare so poorly, as it's another of Rogga's loving tributes to the old school Swedish death tone. Simple concepts and simple riffs fuel an even further stripped down approach than the band's previous efforts. After a tasteful and catchy acoustic intro, the carnal crunch of "Dying dead decomposed" grinds your entrails. "Corpse Dumpster" has some groove and slam to it but most importantly I enjoyed how the creepy open picking of the chorus, which sent me back in time to what I used to love about this genre. Pure menace. Other great tracks include the grooving "Septic Severance", the catchy, haunting melodies which kick off "Dead and Beyond". The doom of "The Skeletal Empire" parts way for some face rocking tone. In fact, most of the songs here are good with the exception of the Ramones cover.

Where does it place next to their earlier albums? I'd say that it took a few spins to grow on me, but I now enjoy it as much as Congregating the Sick. It's a little dirtier but the repulsive tones and guttural simplicity have a raw appeal which isn't always present in these retro death metal releases. Just get that cover art out of my face.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

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Ribspreader - Congregating the Sick (2005)

I feel like a separate blog may be in order just to cover all of Rogga Johansson's many projects, since the man has almost single-handedly crafted a Swedish retro death metal scene (to be fair, he's had a lot of help from the right places). Fans of his newer projects like Revolting and Putrevore would do well to check out Ribspreader, one of his earlier efforts. They've released two full-lengths a few years ago; of these Congregating the Sick is the more recent and superior.

There is no surprise as to what you're going to find on the album: pure old school Swedish metal which benefits from a more modern, crushing production. Influenced by all the usual suspects (Dismember, Entombed, Grave, as well as early Death), Rogga and friends bludgeon through 9 tracks of consistent mayhem. Drums were provided by Johan Berglund (who also plays bass in one of Rogga's other bands Demiurg.), and some snappy leadwork is offered by Dan Swanö, who also recorded the album.

The album begins with one of its best tracks, "Autopsy Obsessed", a rush of primal grooving energy with a great flurry of leads over the first rhythm. "Morbid Reflections" is a little slower at first but picks up nicely. "Bleeding You Dry" is similar to the first two tracks with a mid-paced delivery packed with groove. "Breeding Sickness" is a little darker, with an evil bluesy intro riff that transforms into some very old school speed picking and carnal breakdowns. "Dead to the World" is a veritable feast of blazing early 90's Swedish death which would do any moshpit proud. "Maggots (Fucking Maggots)" may not be as great a hymn to the larval carrion feeders as that of the great GWAR, but it will suffice. Another of the album's best tracks is closer "The Crawling".

Your mileage with Congregating the Sick will vary based on your relative love of old school Swedish brutality, including many of Rogga's other works. The music isn't amazing but it's tight enough for an album trying to capture that lost magick so many death metal albums lack. The lyrics are pretty average, but unfortunately few death metal fans pay attention to such things. I consider this the better of Ribspreader's two full-lengths but some of Johansson's other work is a little better.

Verdict: Win [8/10] (when the hacking begins)

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