Paganzier - As Mankind Rots
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PAGANIZER – AS MANKIND ROTS LABEL: XTREEM MUSIC RELEASE DATE: FEBRUARY 5th 2026
What is man but a short-lived parasite, a brief flickering of light in the long, long aeons of darkness…for those who dwell in the deep places of the Earth, all mankind’s endeavours – his childlike learning, his shining towers and imbecilic weapons, his self applauded works of art – are unworthy of note or notice. They slumbered; dreaming their epoch spanning dreams in their temples of silence, whispering their strange sorceries, long before man dragged himself from the primeval swamps. And they will dream on in the times to come, while the stars grow cold and as mankind rots.
The Scandinavian Warmachine rolls on! After twenty seven years, thirteen full length studio albums and an ever growing brood of EPs, split releases, live albums and compilations Paganizer still sound adrenalized, bloodstained and glorious! It seems that Rogga Johansson still wakes every morning with a new batch of rotten riffs hatched inside his head, clawing to get out into the world…and album number fourteen is ready to lay waste to all that stands in its path. It’s time for As Mankind Rots!
Paganizer make two kinds of records – good ones and great ones – and from the explosive beginning of title track and first single, ‘As Mankind Rots’, it’s obvious that with this album they are hitting greatness. There’s no intro, no samples, it’s just headfirst into riffs and mayhem; pure Swedish death metal magnificence! From that opening salvo on there is not a moment which is anything less than definitive death metal. You could explain real, unadulterated death metal to the uninitiated by simply handing them this album to listen to. Every vocal punctuation, every roar, every drumbeat every goddamn riff is exactly what you want it to be. From the supremely catchy ‘Put On Your Gasmask’, with its wailing air raid siren to ‘Hollow’s crawl through lightless tunnels; ‘Afterworld’s searing guitar solo and atmosphere to revel in, drown in, to the rampaging, breathless fury of ‘The Rotting End’ - As Mankind Rots is headbanging classic after headbanging classic. Rogga’s voice is as powerful as his riffs and Paganizer have never sounded better. A nice surprise to finish the album is a new recording of ‘Vanans Makt’, which appeared on the Compiled Ammunition compilation back in 2020, with guest vocals from Bulten of Swedish punk band Lastkaj 14.
Mixed and mastered by long term collaborator Ronnie Björnström, who has also applied his magic touch to other Rogga Johansson projects like Ribspreader, Those Who Bring The Torture and Revolting, As Mankind Rots simply could not sound any better. The package is completed by the haunting artwork of Ivan Bragin (The Gathering, October Tide, Woods Of Ypres etc) and will be released by Xtreem Music on CD, 12"LP Cassette & Digital formats on February 5th. For all fans of real death metal – this is unmissable!
Genre: Death Metal
For fans of: Entombed | Ribspreader | Grave | Vomitory Line-up:
Rogga Johansson - Guitars, Vocals
Matte Fiebig – Drums
Dennis Blomberg - Lead Guitars
Martin Klasén - Bass
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