Wilderun’s Sleep at the Edge of the Earth was a revelation and was hailed at this website as the best record of 2015. So what happens when four years later, Wilderun finally release its followup? Let AMG Himself and El Cuervo tell you.
Dan Swanö
Piah Mater – The Wandering Daughter Review
“The pia mater, Latin for “tender mother,” is one of three meninges that surround and protect the brain from damage. So as you’re headbanging at your local metal show, your pia mater keeps your delicate, spongy brain tissue from dashing itself against the inside of your skull and knocking you out cold.” Keep your mothers close and your Opeth-core closer.
Witherscape – The Northern Sanctuary Review
“It’s time once again to turn loose the Swanös! Well, the Swanö named Dan anyway. That’s because the mega-man is back with his Witherscape project, and as before he’s brought along his mustachioed compadre, Ragner Widerberg to provide multi-instrumental support. Those who heard the massive debut, The Inheritance know what to expect – rich, melodic, somewhat progressive death metal with a cosmic ass-ton of hooks, mood and memorability.” The Danimal is back for the attack.
Vainaja – Verenvalaja Review
“In 2014, Finnish three-headed beast Vainaja dropped a megaton bomb in the form of Kadotetut, leveling the ears of those who bore witness to their hymns, and placing themselves in a comfortable 3rd place spot on my year-end list with their mix of Celtic Frosty atmospherics and Asphyxiating tremolo doom. The story of a long-lost book of desecrations, sacrificial rites, and other blasphemous acts set to a bone-crushing doom/death backdrop, was both addictive and effective. Two years later, another tome has been unearthed.” Books cause nothing but trouble.
Rogash – Malevolence Review
“It’s been a while since I’ve reached into the Grymm Grab Bag™ to review my next band, and this review doesn’t change that. Y’see, sometimes, like with Tom of… err, TOMB of Finland, the name alone just screams to be reviewed. This case, though, it was AMG himself saying, “Hey, Mr. Dan Swanö produced this.” Dan is a very talented mult-instrumentalist, a gifted songwriter, and the producer of some of my favorite records. So, I like Dan. And Dan produced Malevolence, the second album by German death metal machine, Rogash. When the Boss asks you to check something out, then damnit, you listen!” Grymm is working for the Man.
Deserted Fear – Kingdom of Worms Review
“As many AMG readers know, production quality plays a major role in the reviews posted on this site. Love it or hate it, care about it or don’t give a fuck about it, awareness of the “Loudness War” and the desire for quality metal is real. And with a new Angry Metal-Fi article out on dynamic range, I found it timely that I would be reviewing Deserted Fear’s sophomore release, Kingdom of Worms. Why, you ask? Well, Dan “The Man” Swanö himself handled the mixing and mastering of the album.” Here Dan is to save the day!
Angry Metal-Fi: Just Cause – The Whys Behind the Loudness Wars
“Let’s pretend for the sake of argument that you’ve read all of our articles and are now a true believer: The overzealous use of dynamic range compression coupled with brickwall limiting yields lifeless, dull sounding records. But if this is indeed all true, then why does the industry continue to approve of (and even insist on) this insanity in the first place?” Now that’s a good question, and the Metal-Fi guys have answers you might not like.
Torture Division – The Sacrifice Released
Oh happy day! A new Torture Division EP has landed. Entitled The Sacrifice it is not only brilliant, but it’s free [but you can donate to the cause here]. And to top it off, it’s being released on Unisound’s website (that’s The Great Dan Swanö) in sweet, sweet full dynamic range sound. That’s right, this baby clocks in at DR13 and sounds so goddamned good.
Hail of Bullets – III The Rommel Chronicles Review
“While the mighty Bolt Thrower lies in their house at R’lyeh, dead but dreaming, Dutch super group Hail of Bullets have become the undisputed champions of war-themed death metal. Featuring the likes of Ed Warby (The 11th Hour, Demiurg) and the immortal Martin van Drunen (Asphyx, ex-Pestilence, ex-Bolt Thrower), these grizzled veterans have made a name for themselves by adopting a winning Bolt Thrower meets Asphyx meets more Bolt Thrower schtik and they’ve churned out some truly tank-busting, old school death over their short but nasty career. Their albums always feature a fantastic mix of classic death grooves and monstrously oppressive doom riffs (especially on On Divine Winds) and they remind me of long forgotten Winter and the dirgey glory of vintage Celtic Frost and Hellhammer. III The Rommel Chronicles doesn’t upset the ammunition cart and the band delivers another broootal, throwback album with little in the way of finesse.” Old school death metal about war and battle. That shit just sells itself, don’t it? Yes it does!
Witherscape – The Inheritance Review
“There are few sure things in the world, but there’s one name that screams quality and excellence and that name is Dan Fucking Swanö. From his work on top-notch death metal albums like Edge of Sanity’s Crimson, his collarboration with Bloodbath, Threshold and Demiurg and his proggy solo albums like Moontower, the man has the midas touch and one of the best death roars of all time. He’s also a producer extraordinaire and perhaps the best at making death metal sound the way it should. Witherscape takes his hefty talents and pairs them with unknown instrumentalist Ragnar Widerberg and the result is a concept album about a gothic insane asylum and evil goings on. Musically, it’s a stunning mash-up of Crimson, Damnation-era Opeth, Omnium Gatherum, Mercyful Fate and even King Crimson.” Steel Druhm has a mancrush on Dan Swanö and you should too, unless you’re a woman. Join him as he explains why Witherscape justifies his love.
