Bloodbath began life as a humble tribute. Formed by Jonas Renkse and Anders Nyström (both of Katatonia), Mikael Åkerfeldt (Opeth) and Dan Swanö (Edge Of Sanity) in 1998, they devoted themselves to resurrecting the increasingly forgotten art of pure death metal. Inspired by the greats and grotesques of the Swedish and Florida scenes, Bloodbath pooled their talents and discovered that they were more than equal to the achievements of the genre’s revered ancient gods. Kicking off with the release of four-track EP Breeding Death at the turn of the century, the Swedes have since evolved and mutated multiple times, releasing a succession of peerless, face-ripping death metal masterpieces along the way. Whether fronted by Åkerfeldt (on seminal debut Resurrection Through Carnage and merciless third album The Fathomless Mastery), or by Hypocrisy’s Peter Tägtgren (on 2004’s crushing Nightmares Made Flesh), Bloodbath steadily became a revered benchmark for deathly, old school evangelism.