Death Reich formed in 2018 with the mindset of grinding as hard as possible. The early lineup consisted of Jonas Blom (Sacramentum, Runemagick, ex Trident, ex Grief of Emerald, ex One Man Army and the Undead Quartet) who started on Guitar along with Marcus Fors (Voodus, ex Vornth) on drums and Robert Axelsson (Sacramentum, Grief of Emerald, ex One Man Army and the Undead Quartet) on bass. Soon after they included Christer Bergqvist (Grief of Emerald, ex Sadistic Grimness, ex Auberon) on guitar and Johnny Lehto (Grief of Emerald, ex Decameron) on vocals.
That’s very same year this lineup hit the studio and recorded a demo but were left unsatisfied with what they produced, and they scrapped the entire demo. It takes so much as a musician, an artist to set aside ego and pride and burn all that work and process. It wasn’t long after they ditched the demo that Marcus decided to leave the project behind all together. With limited options, Jonas decided to take over drumming duties and this is what we know today as Death Reich. The changed their sound from American old school death metal to straight forward more modern death metal.
With their previous guitar player moving to drums they brought on Robert Babic (ex-Brutal Division, Vulcanic). They immediately got to work and recorded 2 songs (available to listen to on YouTube) independently. Following 2018’s scrapped demo, 2019’s DIY release, they recorded in 2020 which caught the attention of Non Serviam Records titled Death Camp.
All these events bring us to now with their recent offering titled “The Final Plague” which features four original works of art as well as a tribute to Entombed. This is just a taste of what’s to come as they’ve announced they are currently working on a full-length release but if I had to guess it’s not far off considering the bands short history of pumping out releases.
This isn’t an album review I know, it’s an EP review but the band deserves recognition on this piece of death metal masterpiece. Its epic, brutal, riff heavy, well-constructed and all around great to listen too. There is elements of old Vader, Bloodbath, Cannibal Corpse, and Slayer. Death Reich has the makings to be an international touring band without a doubt, without question.
Personally, I really look forward to what’s in store for Death Reich in the future.
Overall score- 9/10
Review by: George Joseph Bauman IV
