“As many of us learned from magnets or, for an elite few, Paula Abdul and her weird rapping cartoon cat companion, opposites have the ability to attract if they’re strong enough. As we learned from making friends, joining any voluntary association, or reading Plato’s Timaeus, like knows and seeks out like at a high rate too. And Czech Swedeath merchants Brutally Deceased are going for this principle with their third record, Satanic Corpse.” Oh Paula, you came and you found us some Swede-death….
“First, we have Fronch fries. And Fronch dressing. And Fronch bread. And Fronch death metal. And to drink, ta-da! Peru! As with most bands with old guys like me in them, I have a long history with Mercyless. I received a cassette promo of 1993’s Coloured Funeral right after losing access to a free copy machine that put a nail in the coffin of the print version of Unchain the Underground. While I never got around to reviewing it, that particular slab of adventurous Fronch death metal stayed in regular rotation and made the cut through upgrades to CD right into the digital age.” Mercyless is about to activate your dental plan.
“Deathcult can be comfortably lumped in the niche “weird” OSDM scene with bands like Obliteration, Morbus Chron, and Tribulation. The root of it all is old Death, Entombed, and Autopsy riffs, but it tries to be more “progressive” by making the songs a bit more technically involved and spaced out, but less immediate along with hints from the melodicism of the old Swedish scene to spice things up. Beasts of Faith aims to mix this all together with a nearly transparent coat of new paint much like The Matrix added virtual reality to a combination of Descartes’s “evil demon” thing and Plato’s cave allegory.” This isn’t your father’s old school death.
“I haven’t reviewed death metal in a good long time, so I thought I’d get back on the dead horse with upstart Arizona act, Gatecreeper. For their Sonoran Depravation debut they’ve crafted a style mixing equal parts of the D-beat Swede-death style made famous by Entombed, the grit and dirge of Asphyx and the bastard war grind of Bolt Thrower. Sounds tempting, eh?” Tempted by the tank of another….
“Upon learning that Norwegian newcomers Reptilian were peddling a “unique and twisted form of Death Metal” on their debut Perennial Void Traverse, I gritted my teeth and prepared for the boring hipster “soundscape” that was to greet my ears when I hit play.” But you won’t believe what happened next!
“Reign of the Unblinking Eye, the debut full-length from British groovers The Bendal Interlude, couldn’t have come at a better time in my life. Between the stress of watching (and partaking in) the complete clusterfuck that is the American Presidential election where, as a general whole, the candidates proceed to make asses out of themselves.” Everybody sucks 2016.
“Whoa, it’s quite a surprise to see a new Interment album in 2016 considering they were a contemporary of Entombed and Dismember back in the early days of the Swede-core death scene, but didn’t release anything until 2010. Now we get the erstwhile followup a scant 6 years later? Major machinations are clearly underway at Camp Interment and their production schedule is definitely ramping up!” Releases may be slow, but death they certainly know.
“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. 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?
“First appearances can be and often are misleading. Take Death Mask Replica, for example, the fourth release by Swedish band Bombs of Hades. After noticing the Captain Beefheart-spoofing title and marveling at the tastefully grim and artsy cover, one might expect some kind of experimental blackened death metal in the vein of Chaos Echœs to be hidden within.” Of course, you’d be totally wrong and embarrass yourself.
