Swedish Death Metal – Page 15

Obscure Infinity – Perpetual Descending Into Nothingness (Review)

Obscure Infinity are from Germany and play Old-School Death Metal. This is their third album.

I was excited to hear this after the excellent but oh-so-small taster that was their split with Funeral Whore.

After an epic-sounding intro we’re into the thick of the action with Obscure Infinity’s blend of Swedish-style Death Metal, atmospheric leads, and Death/Iron Maiden-guitar influences.

The band have tight control over their songwriting with all of the hallmarks of a band who are able to craft classic songs.

Whether sped up or slowed down, the band pace themselves well and the dynamic guitarwork is impressive. This is a band who are confident enough to simplify things when necessary but also talented enough to throw in some technicality on occasion.

The leads and solos are all blinders and the riffs in general are hugely impressive. The guitars make the songs and give them a vitality that’s rare in Old-School Death Metal. There are plenty of atmospheric moments and even the odd feeling of Old-School Black Metal in places; it’s not a huge influence but it’s noticeable.

The bass and drums underpin everything, providing a firm base for the songs to launch their attacks from. Blast beats are an important staple of the band but they also excel in the more rhythmic moments.

The vocalist is very accomplished, with a lovely deep growl and occasional screams to keep things interesting. Some unexpected cleans even appear on A Forlorn Wanderer, and it’s a testament to the band that they don’t seem out of place at all. It comes across as a mix of Emperor and Celtic Frost and is a great thing to hear.

The recording is first-rate, with plenty of heaviness. The songs sound alive and ready to crush!

Perpetual Descending Into Nothingness is just as strong an album as I was hoping it would be. Occult-sounding, malevolent Death Metal with plenty of texture and colour; Obscure Infinity are making sure that 2015 is starting off with a bang.

Disinterred – Incantation (Review)

Disinterred are a Death Metal band from Belgium and this is their latest EP.

Ahhh I do love a bit of Swedish Death Metal. Yes they’re from Belgium but who cares? Your general tolerance levels for this much loved/maligned genre, (depending on your viewpoint), will dictate how you get on with Disinterred.

If you like Grave, Dismember, etc. then Disinterred should be right up your gravestone-lined alleyway.

The songs are short, heavy and full of quality Death Metal riffage. They have that classic chainsaw sound and all of the requisite parts are in place, including the sinister melodies.

The vocalist has a very nice voice indeed. Dark, deep growls are barked out with precision and hatred. Nice work that man!

At only 13 minutes in length there’s no messing around here; straight to the point Death Metal in the Old-School Swedish style.

Good sound, good songs. What’s not to like?

Just Before Dawn – The Aftermath (Review)

Just Before Dawn is an international “supergroup” of sorts. This is their second album.

This is a war-themed Death Metal album in the Swedish style, replete with Chainsaw sound and harrowing melodics. This is combined with a good Bolt Thrower influence to produce the mother of all War Metal sounds.

The album features contributions from members of bands like Megascavenger, Massacre, Bolt Thrower, God Macabre, Bodyfarm, Aeon, Puteraeon, Morgoth and Demonical. Due to this, you know it’s going to be played and performed well, which it is.

As this is essentially Swedish Death Metal there are no real surprises here, content-wise, but that’s not important; what is important is the songs themselves and how good they are.

The calibre of the musicians involved and their collective experience means that they are not found wanting in this regard, of course. The songs are as warlike and bloodthirsty as you would expect.

The tracks pound and demolish their way across the battlefield like an armoured steamroller; heavy, relentless and unstoppable.

In some ways there’s not a lot to say about an album like this. If you like the Swedish style, if you like Bolt Thrower, if you like good riffs and good songs…you’ll like Just Before Dawn.

Check them out.

Centinex – Redeeming Filth (Review)

Centinex are from Sweden and play Death Metal. This is their ninth album and somewhat of a return as it’s their first album after reforming.

Centinex are one of those bands that I’ve been aware of since seemingly forever and yet have never had the opportunity to hear for one reason or another. It’s been somewhat of an oversight for sure, but one that has now been corrected. As such, we turn to Redeeming Filth.

This is an album that gets straight to the point; 10 songs in just under 33 minutes and the band mean business.

This is the original Swedish Death Metal, fully authentic with an immense chainsaw-powered production. They sound absolutely huge and ready to slay.

Redeeming Filth is an album of punchy Death Metal with crunchy, heavy guitars and vocals that sound like they’re biting through a black hole.

There is a definite energy to these songs. It may be Swedish Death Metal but it doesn’t sound dated or mouldy in the slightest. I have a soft spot for this style and this sounds as fresh as any Death Metal subgenre out there. Centinex have taken a the classic sound and imbued it with life once more. No mean feat.

The songs, quite simply, destroy. They’re enjoyable romps through ultra-heavy territory and feature guitar riffs that sound capable of toppling buildings.

Well, if this is indicative of Centinex’s other works then it’s definitely a tragedy I’ve missed out on them for so long.

Great band, great listen.

Deserted Fear – Kingdom of Worms (Review)

This is the second album from German Death Metallers Deserted Fear.

Deserted Fear sound absolutely huge. Their sound is crisp, punchy and as solid as a slab of granite. They play a blend of Classic and Modern Death Metal which sees them taking the best from the old and new to create songs that are brutal but not just for the sake of it.

Here we have a band who remember the importance of actual songs. Remember those? The tracks on this album are full of hooks, catchy melodies and memorable riffs.

The musicianship is first class and the band know how to translate good songwriting into results.

The riffs rumble along like a steamroller. The band combine aspects of Swedish Death Metal, Bolt Thrower, Vader and more modern influences to create their trademark sound.

The combination of chunky rhythm guitars and more melodic leads work well together and bring out the Swedish influence in their sound. A mid-paced assault shows their Bolt Thrower influence and the faster sections have more of a Vader edge to them. All of this is wrapped in a state-of-the-art production.

The vocalist knows his stuff and uses his voice to beat and batter the listener into submission before the crushing music deals the deathblow.

Kingdom of Worms is a solid album of destructive Death Metal that could happily sit in any Metal fan’s collection.

Try them out today.

Lavatory – Morbid Terror (Review)

Lavatory are a Death Metal band from Malaysia. This is their début album.

Just like the shambling, rotten monstrosity that graces the album cover, Lavatory’s brand of Death Metal is a putrid and corpse-ridden ode to that oh-so-satisfying of sub genres – Old-School Swedish Death Metal.

The album is aptly named as the band use all of the chainsaw-shaped tools available to them in their box of chainsaws to create Death Metal that’s heavy in both guitar tone and deathly dread.

If you know Swedish Death Metal, (and I know you do), then you know what to expect here; the chainsaw riffs, the haunting melodies, etc.

It’s all delivered by a band that sounds a little bit more unhinged than is the norm for the style though. It’s almost like the levels of rot have taken hold so much and so deep that they’re in danger of falling apart.

It’s like they’ve mixed Old-School Death Metal with an equally Old-School brand of Hardcore and taken the energy levels from the latter and messily transplanted them into the former. Well, the operation may have killed the patient but it’s been a success anyway.

The singer sounds like he’s going to rupture something and the guitars sound like the chainsaws haven’t had maintenance in a very long time.

The album reeks of the grave and sounds as ancient as a curse. The songs are primitive and stubbornly refuse to be anything other than what they are; there is no pretension here and the band are completely true to their decaying roots.

Check out Morbid terror; just make sure you bring clean underwear.

Pyre – Human Hecatomb (Review)

Pyre are from Russia and play Death Metal. This is their début album.

This is Old-School Death Metal with swagger, confidence and a feeling of grim determination mixed with a sense of graveyard fun.

The singer snarls and growls his way through the carnage and there’s more than a touch of Obituary about him.

Quality solos and playing all-round make for an enjoyable listen. The sound is balanced and the drums in particular sound quite satisfying. I also like that you can hear the bass. Hurrah for bass!

This is an album of good songs and good riffs; an album celebrating the time when songs were more important than how fast or how technical you could play.

Slow, mid-paced, fast; Human Hecatomb uses all tempos, speeds and paces well demonstrating Pyre’s good grasp of dynamics and songwriting.

A healthy Swedish Death Metal influence can be heard throughout this album, but it’s not an overbearing one and certainly not one that would give people who are sick of that particular sub-genre enough reason to avoid Pyre. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that there are very few reasons to avoid Pyre if you’re a fan of Classic Death Metal.

This really is great stuff. If you love Death Metal you’ll love Pyre.

Puteraeon – The Crawling Chaos (Review)

Puteraeon are from Sweden and play Death Metal. This is their third album.

Old-School Swedish Death Metal will never die, and I for one am happy about this.

So what of Puteraeon? Think early Entombed with dirty great Doom riffs and some punkier influences to boot. They faithfully reproduce That Chainsaw Sound as all real purveyors of this style must and the concentration is firmly on the songs and the heavy-yet-melodic riffs.

As you can see this is the usual fare for Swedish Death Metal, but that’s not to denigrate the band at all. They may have chosen a well-trodden route but they’re not without ability; the songs here are enjoyable romps through the blood-soaked Swedish landscape and the vocals in particular sound more bestial than most.

Also; Puteraeon do inject a few influences outside of the standard Swedish template – hints of Carcass, Pestilence, Autopsy and Bolt Thrower can be found here and there, buried beneath the chainsaws. That’s the beauty of Death Metal, no matter which particular subgenre a band specialise in there’s always room to throw in other influences.

If you’re fed up of this style then there won’t be much here to convince you otherwise, but if you still enjoy this particular brand of Death Metal then The Crawling Chaos hits the spot. It’s also a release that gets better the more you listen to it, which is always a good thing to be able to say about an album. It has top cover artwork too.

Check them out.

Unwilling Flesh – Between the Living and the Dead (Review)

Unwilling Flesh is a one-man project designed for a single purpose only – massive killing capacity…

Immediately as the first track starts it’s apparent this is Swedish Death Metal and it has That Sound in spades – the trademark Swedish Chainsaw Assault is in full swing. Blood and carnage is everywhere.

This is closely modelled on the early 90’s Old-School Swedish Death Metal style and this album is essential pure devotional worship of this. Even the album cover screams SWEDISH DEATH METAL at the top of its lungs. With all this in mind, your tolerance for this style of Metal will largely dictate how well you get on with this album or not.

As for me, long-standing readers of this site may have noticed that I have a giant, gore-stained soft spot for this style of music. Yes it’s been done to death and yes there’s little innovation to be had here, but all of this misses the point really. Albums like this from Unwilling Flesh just plain ROCK. I mean, here we have lots of chainsaw riffs; deep, evil growling; creepy, darkened melodies; drums that want to destroy; what’s not to like?

The songs on this release are as competent and enjoyable as any in this style. There is the odd effect and added interest to enhance the core sound and the riffs and vocals are perfectly judged. The melodies, leads and solos are all played well and the guitars drive this album forward with nothing but destruction in mind.

This is obviously a labour of love though; this is not the sound of someone slapping an album together quickly just for the sake of it. Time and effort has clearly been spent ensuring that this has an authentic sound and, more importantly, that the songs are as good as they can be. Top marks for this.

If you decry the state of modern Death Metal, (I don’t), and/or just love the older Death Metal sound, (I do), then Unwilling Flesh offer a time capsule of delights on this album.

Listen loud, and get ready to dig out that chainsaw that you have packed away somewhere. You’re going to need it.

Horrendous – Ecdysis (Review)

This is the second album from US Death Metal band Horrendous.

Firstly; what an album cover! Top marks for that for a start.

But what of the music? Horrendous play Traditional/Old-School Death Metal with a good bit of the Swedish style chucked in, although they are certainly not limited to this one particular subgenre. Their style is a wider one that encompasses pretty much all of the Classic/Traditional/Old-School Death Metal sounds and delivers them wrapped in entrails as a horrendous, (heh), package of delights for the listener to chew on.

Good riffs and good melodies are apparent from the off; this is band that knows how to rip your face off but also knows how to show restraint and take the slower, more considered route to its slaughter. Some of the guitar leads and solos on this release are sublime, enough to take your breath away. There really are some impressive moments here.

A warm, organic sound means you can almost feel the breathing of the Metal as it clobbers you to death. Even the bass is audible. The guitars have a bit of That Swedish Sound, but not oppressively so. Instead the whole thing has a Classic Death Metal stomp.

The vocalist falls somewhere between an Obituary and a Covenant-era Morbid Angel style. He has a relatively varied voice as he ranges deeper or higher than his core voice as necessary.

The songs chug and churn, flatten and demolish their way through the 44 minutes playing time with the confidence of a killer and the talent of a professional. These are diverse and dynamic songs with strong songwriting clearly stamped all over them in a big, bloody mess.

This is an album that every fan of Death Metal should get their greasy mitts on. Play loud and play repeatedly.