- Country: Sweden
- Style: Melodic death metal
- Label: Century Media
- Release date: 27 October 2014
Nineteen years. That is how long the world waited for a follow-up to Slaughter of the Soul, and I will admit I went in braced for disappointment. Reunion albums tend to either chase the old record note for note or try too hard to sound modern. At War with Reality mostly avoids both traps.
After the intro “El Altar del Dios Desconocido”, “Death and the Labyrinth” kicks the door in with exactly the twin-guitar urgency you want, and Tomas Lindberg sounds as hoarse and desperate as he did in 1995. But the Björler brothers clearly were not interested in writing Slaughter part two. The title track and “The Circular Ruins” have more of the dark, winding melody of Terminal Spirit Disease in them, and the whole thing hangs together as a concept album, with song titles like “The Book of Sand (The Abomination)” that reward a look at the lyric sheet.
It is not perfect. Thirteen tracks is a lot, and the back half could lose a song or two. But “Heroes and Tombs”, with its slow, mournful build, is one of the finest things they have ever written, and “The Night Eternal” closes the album on a properly heavy note. A comeback that respects its own legacy without hiding behind it.
Best tracks:
Death and the Labyrinth
At War with Reality
Heroes and Tombs
The Night Eternal
Author’s rating: 8.5/10
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