Megascavenger (review by MMB)

Megascavenger

As Dystopia Beckons

Selfmadegod Records

release: 1 March 2016

"Calling out the Rogga junkies

Are you ready for a new Rogga beat

Rogga's here and the time is now

For moshing in the street

They're moshing in Stockholm

Down in Gamleby

Up in Gothenburg

All we need is Rogga, sick Rogga

There'll be moshing everywhere

There'll be necks hurting, elbow swinging

Moshing in the street"

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Rogga’s back and it’s time to get nasty, so nasty.

Megascavenger is the filthy extreme expression of the death metal riff assembly line factory known by the human name of Rogga Johansson—who has been certified by the Swedish Deviants and Street Hustlers Association of Sweden as a “Swedish national treasure of the people of Sweden” for his contribution and dedication to old school death metal—a man responsible for about 53.7777% of metal music from Sweden since 2000: Down Among the Dead Men, Echelon, Johansson & Speckmann, Necrogod, Paganizer, Putrevore, Revolting, Ribspreader, The Grotesquery, ex-Bloodgut, ex-Carve, ex-Dead Sun, ex-Demiurg, ex-Foreboding, ex-Humanity Delete, ex-Severed Limbs, ex-Swarming, ex-Terminal Grip, ex-Those Who Bring the Torture, Eaten (Swe), ex-Banished from Inferno, ex-Fondlecorpse, ex-Graveyard After Graveyard, ex-Sinners Burn, ex-Soulburn, ex-The 11th Hour, ex-Deranged (live), ex-Bone Gnawer, ex-To the Gallows. Oh, is that all now? Really?! Bite me.

Here we are again, like clockwork, with another Rogga Johansson album. You know that it’s going to be death metal, old-time riffy, groovy sounds. Or, is it? Well, well, well, what do have here? It’s not the same old song and dance this time! Megascavenger has a few surprises, a few robotic-industrial-futuristic-hellish surprises. The drum programming and robotic/industrial sounds in the background are there to give you that feeling of The Terminator or Robocop or I, Robot, to go along with the overall theme of the album. It’s not a pleasant future that awaits, according to Rogga.

Rogga has enlisted a whole troop of vocalists: “Megascavenger are known for having big names guesting on their albums and the latest one is no different. Their new album, 'As Dystopia Beckons', released on Selfmadegod Records, again features a star-studded line up with band members of Hail of Bullets, ex-Massacre, ex-Mantas, ex-Benediction, ex-Bolt Thrower, Echelon, Fleshcrawl, Entrails, Sinister, Crypticus and others playing an important role in forming the sound of this band.” This album has a nice little range of variety, actually. It’s more than the vocals changing for each song. The music sounds a little bit different, too. “As the Last Day Has Passed,” for instance, shows Megascavenger stepping into 90s “melodic death metal” territory. The guitar work on this song answers what some people have wanted to know about Rogga: Does he do only heavy/brutal guitar work? Can he do other sounds? Here you have your answer. Apparently, if he wanted, he could make the songs very melodic, but homie don’t play that. Not for long. Then there is “The Hell that Is This World” (Don’t you just love those positive-thinking song titles?): this song dives right into industrial territory, with monstrous vocals and robotic sounds. Did you know that Rogga can do that, too? Word.

At this point, you might be thinking of calling 911 or your therapist because you are thinking that Rogga has finally gone off the deep end. These songs still sound heavy, thick as a brick, and pretty sick. Most of the songs still sound like heavy/brutal death metal. On the other hand, yes, it’s true, this is a bit more experimental or catchier than expected. I think I was surprised a bit and I think Rogga junkies might be at first, but once you listen to the whole album, it’s not the end of the world, just Rogga changing things up a bit, and getting restless and crazy.

You think you know Rogga? Are you ready for this jamming? Well, let’s find out!

www.selfmadegod.bandcamp.com/album/as-dystopia-beckons

www.facebook.com/megascavenger