Swedish Death Metal

Bastard Grave – Diorama of Human Suffering Review

By Dr. A.N. Grier on August 16, 2019 in 2019, Death Metal, Pulverised Records, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Death Metal, 26 comments

“For one, Bastard Grave hails from Sweden, which is the home of some of my favorite death metal releases. Classics like Entombed’s Left Hand Path and Dismember’s Like an Everflowing Stream, as well as Grave’s entire catalog, warm my sad, little heart. The riffs, the vocals, and the pace—which feels like treading through knee-deep mud—grip me like quicksand. Second, Bastard Grave have a female bassist. Hmmm… like Bolt Thrower, you ask? Are Bastard Grave a Swedish Bolt Thrower?! Because that would be sick.” Grave reviews.

Demonical – Chaos Manifesto Review

By Diabolus in Muzaka on April 18, 2018 in 2018, Agonia Records, Death Metal, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Death Metal, 64 comments

“Genre-defining records are are lodestars, influences, fertile grounds for inspiration, and more, but not something to be pressed into warm wax and fed again to the audience. Nonetheless, blatant mimicry and an endless army of clones persists; rather humorously, the largely Godless metal scene has an idolatry problem.” Entombed idols.

Desultory – Through Aching Aeons Review

By Ferrous Beuller on June 21, 2017 in 2017, Death Metal, Pulverised Records, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Death Metal, 17 comments

“A strange analogue runs alongside my taste in traditional Swedish death — namely, my love for the classic horror fiction circulated by American publisher EC Comics in the mid 50’s. If you’re unaware of their pulp pressings, first of all: be ashamed, and second: do yourself a favor and Google the morbid pencil-work of Graham Ingels and scare yourself up some culture. The dark yet direct content of that material emphasized familiar characteristics I would soon come to recognize in the Stockholm death metal scene, infamous for its D.I.Y. brand of incipient malcontent, braced by a dirge of funeral winds and sci-fi malice aforethought.” Hello and goodbye again.

Entrails – World Inferno Review

By Diabolus in Muzaka on June 15, 2017 in 2017, Death Metal, Metal Blade, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Death Metal, 30 comments

“Does anyone passionately have a favorite Entrails record? This question has animated this review, and I think the answer is “no” in a meaningful sense. People can, and probably do, like one Entrails record better than the others, but I get the feeling that the reasons are a lot more arbitrary than the ones behind the decision about which Morbid Angel record is the best one.” Death takes guts.

Miasmal – Tides of Omniscience Review

By Diabolus in Muzaka on March 13, 2016 in Century Media, Death Metal, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Death Metal, 18 comments

“One lesson I’ve learned in my tenure at AMG is that burgers can be successfully compared to just about anything. Just like burgers are a great plan for a meal in a pinch, they also work in that annoying pinch when a lede just refuses to come to mind. I think we can largely agree that listening to Swe-death records is like the endless quest for the perfect burger.” In dining, as in death, it’s the seasoning that counts.

Entombed A.D. – Dead Dawn Review

By Diabolus in Muzaka on February 23, 2016 in 2016, Century Media, Death Metal, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Death Metal, 25 comments

“Entombed A.D. suggests a great return to glory for the Swe-death greats: Entombed is dead, long live Entombed A.D.! When it came out two years ago, Back to the Front was more like Back to the Middle, a good if not workmanlike record that wasn’t offensive but wasn’t the grand comeback the band and record name seemed to imply. Now L.G. Petrov and his A.D. crew are back with Dead Dawn, and only the most naïve of optimists could have possibly expected Left Hand Path II: HM-2 Boogaloo.” Why can’t we just have our little dreams?

Bastard Grave – What Lies Beyond Review

By Jean-Luc Ricard on October 27, 2015 in 2015, Death Metal, Pulverised Records, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Death Metal, 25 comments

“I presume most of you guessed Bastard Grave’s chosen genre without listening to a second of their music, but in case you’re an extreme metal newbie (welcome! Take a seat, have some cake! Don’t mind the skulls, they’re not real. Probably), this extract from their promo sheet will give you a hint: “With the opening blare on the album starting off with the all-too-familiar guitar feedback reminiscent of a vague Entombed-ish trademark, it is easy to tell What Lies Beyond is heavily laced with the murderous HM-2 destruction and with absolutely no mercy.” That’s right, old school Swedish death metal that’s so devoid of new ideas, even the label thinks it’s generic!” Let’s get rote to the point, shall we?

Angry Metal Guy’s Unsigned Band Rodeo: Infested – Obliterate

By Angry Metal Guy on April 18, 2013 in Angry Metal Guy's Unsigned Band Rodeo, Blog Posts, 12 comments

In our new monthly feature, which will show up here on the 15th of every month and run over the next few days, I (Angry Metal Guy) will select 5 bands at random (usually those who have followed my directions and have bandcamp accounts) to get blurbed by every member of the AMG staff. The idea is to do at least a bit of our part to point out that the metal underground is still an important part of the world of metal. While we simply don’t have the manpower to produce regular reviews of unsigned bands, this is my attempt at a minor mea culpa if nothing else. So enjoy Angry Metal Guy’s Unsigned Band Rodeo and our fourth entry for April 2013: Infested!

Zonaria – Arrival of the Red Sun Review

By Angry Metal Guy on July 25, 2012 in 2012, 4.0, Death Metal, Listenable Records, Melodic Death Metal, Reviews, Swedish Metal, 9 comments

Zonaria has always been a bit of a footnote to the Umeå legacy. By the time they released their first record Infamy & the Breed in 2007, the Swedish metal scene was a thing of the past and melodic death metal—Zonaria’s stock in trade—was pretty much the red-headed step kid of the metal scene. That didn’t stop the band’s debut from making a splash and getting the band signed to Century Media—where they released Cancer Empire in 2008 to rave reviews and… were promptly never heard from again. Until now, that is.