“Long gone are the days of demo releases being the lifeblood of underground metal. With the tape trading days of circulating a raw and rough cut demo to create word of mouth buzz and build street cred a thing of the past, and the digital age having firmly taken over, the format has become a fading relic in the modern metal landscape.” But this putrid gem might just take you back to the rancid demo days of yore.
“The Dutch death squad known as Entrapment named their sophomore release Lamentations of the Flesh presumably because a) that’s the title of a song on the record, and b) Swe-death Riff-fest 2014 is an incredibly unwieldy album title.” Some say this is the best swede-death album of 2014. We hope it isn’t because then this miss is really embarrassing.
“Here’s where I would say Swedish retro death is back, but one cannot come back if they never left in the first place, and they can’t be missed for that very same reason. Since Germany’s Revel in Flesh is but one of many bands making sure the classic Entombed sound never vanishes from this mortal coil, they’re all but guaranteed to feel like that comfortable sock you’ve had since the Ford Administration.” C’mon, you know you have room for one more Swedish death act.
“Great Scott! Like stepping into a sepulchral time machine, Skelethal have transported us back to when Sunlight Studios was Mecca, buzz saw guitars sounded like a swarm of bees, and vocals were scraped from the depths of the grimiest gutters of hell.” More retro death arrives, unfazed by the giant shadow of Bloodbath. That’s brave.
“The death metal super group of all death metal super groups is finally back from the grave after six long years moldering in the soil. Bloodbath needs little introduction, as the preeminent standard bearer of all things retro Swedish death this collective composed of members of Opeth, Katatonia and Witchery once included the likes of Dan Swanö and Mikael Akerfeldt, but both have fled to other pursuits, leaving the band’s new era in the hands of Nick Holmes (Paradise Lost) who now handles vocals.” Can Mr. Holmes shed his rave club past and bring his share of gore to the bathtub?
“Death metal has pretty much gotten to the point where if you’re not doing something new and cool with the genre, then you’re damned to be unknown for the rest of your career. Even though tours like Summer Slaughter are covering every corner of the genre, some bands are just not willing to progress any further and stick to what isn’t broken and doesn’t need fixing.” It’s time for yet another probationary writer to shake the word machine and see what falls out. Here we have Gothmog discussing the wares of retro deathsters Slaughterday.
“Trap Them has for years been in that beautiful sweet spot of great hardcore with a monstrous buzzsaw guitar sound. 2011’s Darker Handcraft pushed out excellent songs at high speed and sounded really good thanks to Kurt Ballou’s revered production chops, turning many a head and securing an already growing reputation for excellence. Three years later, Blissfucker readies for release, but with an entirely new rhythm section and a long silence from the band, what could have been cooking?” Let’s look in the pot, shall we?
“Sure, we’ve all heard of beating a dead horse, but have you heard of D-beating a dead horse? Retro Swedish death is that rotting carcass and Bombs of Hades return once again to kick and stomp it with more Entombed and Dismember based bootery. Atomic Temples picks up right where 2012s The Serpent’s Redemption left off and delivers another overdose of unrefined Swedish death mixed with rudimentary crust punk and half baked Motörhead outtakes, and much like the last platter, it’s a fairly fun listen if you’re in the proper frame of mind.”
“We haven’t reviewed any Swedish retro death for a spell, so here’s a big chunk of it to fill our crust quota. But Vallenfyre isn’t your average Swedish retro death band, mind you. They hail from the U.K. and are a super group of sorts, helmed by Gregor Mackintosh, longtime guitarist for goth/doom troupe Paradise Lost. Joining him in these brootal endeavors is Hamish Hamilton Glencross of My Dying Bride and Adrian Erlandsson of At the Gates.” Quite the pedigree of death, eh? It’s all in the breeding.
“Steel Druhm loves his old school death metal, but I get tired of comparing every band’s sound to Entombed, Dismember and/or Grave. Thankfully, Corpsessed arrived in my queue with a terrific moniker and a sound that doesn’t require the standard comparisons. That’s because these sick Finnish death mongers deliver a crusty, ugly style that sounds like a mix of Demigod, Onward to Golgotha era Incantation, Autopsy, primitive low-fi blackness and sludgy doom.” They say nothing cleans the palate like sewage spewing death metal. Well then, take a big slurp of this nastiness.
