I’m a big enough man to almost admit when I’m almost wrong.
Last year, I reviewed the two-track teaser EP by this latest of Rogga Johansson’s myriad projects, and I wasn’t really blown away. Given those two tracks, one of which featured guest vocals by Jurgen Sandstrom (ex-Grave / Project Hate) and one of which had Paul Speckmann (Master / Death Strike), I was expecting Megascavenger to be along the lines of a Swedeath Probot, a side project combining Johansson’s work alongside and beneath the voices of various other vocalists. My opinion then was that the two songs on hand weren’t nearly strong enough to make the project more than a casually interesting exercise in combinations, just a collection of names on otherwise forgettable death metal songs.
I stand by that review – I was right about the EP, but I was wrong about the band.
It turns out that, while there are some prominent guest stars on both vocals and guitar (including Patrick Mameli of Pestilence and the omnipresent Dan Swano of Edge Of Sanity), Descent Of Yuggoth is still predominantly a Rogga ride, and it’s far better than its teaser would have you believe. Johansson is something of a fixture in the underground – he’s in dozens of bands, some good (though never great) and many more not so much. Thankfully, Megascavenger tends towards the better part of the Johansson spectrum, though in typical Rogga fashion, it’s neither innovative nor truly transcendent. It’s straight-forward death metal, and the tunes with which Rogga rounds out Descent Of Yuggoth are marked improvements upon those with which he introduced it. From opening number “Nihilisticon” through to sixth track “Funerals And Ceremonies,” the album is a nearly flawless exhibition of no-frills European death, with chunky riffs that often fly and occasionally flirt with doom tempos. (The Asphyx-ish trudge of “Void Of Damnation” is an album highlight.)
Yuggoth’s only stumbles are the two tracks that compose the earlier EP – both “Death Obsessed” and “Haven For The Insane” pale compared to what precedes them. Even sonically they underwhelm, a certain rawness to their production of “Death Obsessed” not quite matching the earlier, beefier tones of the better tracks. I certainly can’t speak to the thought process behind the album’s sequencing, but it’s likely the placement of these two tracks at the tail end of the album indicates some knowledge of their lack of relative quality, though closing number “To Revel With Vermin” is a solid track stranded after the twin snoozers.
All in all, I am quite pleasantly surprised with Megascavenger’s improvement – I certainly didn’t expect much when this one landed on my desk, and I got far more than what I had anticipated. Descent Of Yuggoth won’t blow anyone’s mind; it’s not groundbreaking or genre-defining, but it works very well within death metal’s established framework to great results. Based on a preview that showcased its weakest moments, Yuggoth should’ve been far blander, far less enjoyable than it turned out to be, and since I wasn’t expecting anything more than mediocrity, I’m quite happy that Johansson and friends proved me (almost) completely wrong.
