Bloodbath is a Swedish Death Metal band formed in 1998. A supergroup, the original lineup consisted of Mikael Akerfeldt of Opeth (vocals), Dan Swano of Edge of Sanity (drums; later switched to guitar), and Anders Nystrom and Jonas Renske of Katatonia (guitar and bass, respectively). The band was formed to celebrate the members' love of old-school death metal music, and since their inception, they've remained a favorite among death metal fans and are one of the most respected artists in the genre.
The band emerged with the EP Breeding Death in 2000, then their first album Resurrection Through Carnage was released in 2002, and paid homage to classic Swedish death metal with its clunky distorted guitar tone and creepy atmosphere. It was widely praised for its familiar yet interesting sound, as well as the vocal performance of Mikael Akerfeldt. To free up more time with Opeth, Akerfeldt left in 2004 and was temporarily replaced by Peter Tagtgren of Hypocrisy. At the same time, Martin Axenrot (also of Opeth) was brought in on drums after Swano switched to guitar. These changes resulted in the band's second album Nightmares Made Flesh, which has been regarded as a death metal classic and received rave reviews all across the metal press.
Swano left the band shortly after, and was replaced by Per Erikkson, and Akerfeldt returned to the band. The EP Unblessing the Purity followed in 2008, along with their third full-length The Fathomless Mastery. While the former was widely acclaimed, the latter was considered solid but received lukewarm reception. Shortly after, the band took a long break, and it was announced that Akerfeldt had left the band for good.
Taking a long time to find a new vocalist, the band finally announced their return in 2012, and while they had a new vocalist set, they did not reveal his identity right away. Giving clues over the course of 2013, everybody was debating who it was, and finally in 2014, they revealed their new singer to be Nick Holmes of Paradise Lost. Their first album with Holmes, Grand Morbid Funeral, was releaesd on November 17, 2014. The band's fifth album, The Arrow of Satan is Drawn, was released on October 26, 2018, and their sixth record Survival of the Sickest will be released in September 2022.
EPs:
- Breeding Death (2000)
- Unblessing the Purity (2008)
Studio Albums:
- Resurrection Through Carnage (2002)
- Nightmares Made Flesh (2004)
- The Fathomless Mastery (2008)
- Grand Morbid Funeral (2014)
- The Arrow of Satan is Drawn (2018)
- Survival of the Sickest (2022)
Bloodbath provides examples of:
- The Antichrist: His rise to power is chronicled throughout The Fathomless Mastery.
- And Show It to You: Subverted.I steal your soul
And carve a hole
Right where your heart once used to be - Apocalypse How: Pretty much all of The Fathomless Mastery is about the apocalypse as it was foretold in the Book of Revelation, minus Satan losing. Besides that, many of their songs feature the annihilation of the world in various forms. To name a few: undead animals ("Year of the Cadaver Race"), a demonic spirit from the ocean ("The Ascension"), the return of ancient gods ("Stillborn Saviour"), some sort of bacterial plague ("Draped In Disease"), or an assortment of natural disasters ("Outnumbering The Day").
- Based on a True Story: The song "Eaten" is about the Armin Meiwes case.
- Blasphemous Boast: "Treasonous" is this trope — along with Rage Against the Heavens — in song form, about an apostate who renounced God and the church in favor his own carnal pleasures and knowledge of the truth.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: "Furnace Funeral".
- Defiant to the End: The protagonist of "Treasonous" is burned at the stake for his apostasy, but refuses to repent.So I burn
Oh, they feed me flames
At the stake I taste the merciless fire
So I burn
Oh, but the Devil knows
I shall rise renewed from ashes of my death - Gorn: A frequent topic of theirs, especially on Resurrection Through Carnage.
- Metal Scream: Mikael, Peter, and Nick all have a Type II.
- Precision F-Strike: "Mock the cross! Mock the cross! Mock the cross! Mock the FUCKING cross!"
- Religion of Evil: The opening lyrics of "The Ascension" seem to portray one.
- Religion Rant Song: Many, but mostly on The Fathomless Mastery.
- Sean Connery Is About to Shoot You: One of their promo photos shows Nick Holmes pointing a crossbow at the camera.
- Special Guest: Christian Alvestam contributed vocals to the song "Iesous", while Eric Cutler and Chris Reifert contributed guitar and vocals to several songs on Grand Morbid Funeral. The Arrow of Satan Is Drawn features additional vocals from Karl Willetts, Jeff Walker, and John Walker (Cancer). Survival of the Sickest features Barney Greenway, Marc Grewe (ex-Morgoth), and Luc Lemay.
- Supergroup: One of the prime examples.
- Title Drop: "The Ascension" title-drops their first EP, Breeding Death, and their first full-length, Resurrection Through Carnage. Also, the song "Bathe In Blood" name-drops the band itself.
- Your Soul Is Mine!: "So You Die" and "The Soulcollector".
