Swedish Metal

Eldkraft – Shaman Review

By Natalie Zed on May 28, 2013 in 2013, 3.0, Epic Metal, Metal Blade, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Epic Metal, 1 comment

Shaman is the debut album from Sweden’s Eldkraft, a group who attempt to unite the ancient and mystic with the epic and contemporary. Their conceptual influences are Norse mythology and pagan rituals, especially those concerned with transition, growth and spiritual journeys. Their sound, however, does not have the folksy old-fashioned quality that one might expect; instead, they have gone for modern production and complex instrumentation that makes them sound considerably more grand and expansive than one would expect from a three-piece. This combines to make Shaman a strong and sometimes startling debut.” Join Natalie Zed as she goes on a journey of discovery with Eldkraft’s debut, Shaman.

Dark Tranquillity – Construct Review

By Steel Druhm on May 21, 2013 in 2013, 3.0, Century Media, Death Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Death Metal, Melodic Death Metal, 22 comments

“I’ve been waiting for this one for some time. As a big Dark Tranquillity fan, I’ve weathered their style shifts and experiments with more commercial and more “modern” sounds. While 2010s We Are the Void was respectable with a few killer cuts, I ended up really liking the extended extras that were included on the limited edition release (which eventually became the Zero Distance EP). That group of songs encapsulated what modern-day DT does best: create melodic, but cold, sterile, modern death metal. I really wanted them to continue in that direction on Construct, but they thought otherwise.” Do the last of the Gothenburg titans finally fall victim to time and tide or can The Tranquil Ones keep the flame of melodic death alive?

Entrails – Raging Death Review

By Steel Druhm on May 11, 2013 in 2013, 3.0, Death Metal, Metal Blade, Swedish Metal, Death Metal, 7 comments

“In the retro Swedish death sweepstakes, you can’t get much more committed than Sweden’s Entrails. Having been around in one form or another since the original wave of Swede death, they weren’t able to release anything until 2010s Tales From the Morgue. While I went quite gorilla shit over that platter and its 110% pure Entombed worshipping awesomeness, I was let down by their The Tomb Awaits follow-up, which seemed watered down and lacking in the raw charm of its predecessor.” Can Entrails recapture the glory of their (of more accurately, Entombed’s) debut? Does anyone even care that they changed their logo?

Arckanum – Fenris Kindir Review

By Natalie Zed on May 10, 2013 in 2013, 3.5, Black Metal, Reviews, Season of Mist, Swedish Metal, Black Metal, 6 comments

“Fenris Kindir is the eight full-length album from Swedish black metal solo project Arckanum, active since 1992. Sole member Shamaatae (Johan Lahger) is responsible for the vocals, all the instruments, and the entire conceptual framework of the band, which is founded on the idea of Chaos-Gnostic ideology rather than traditional pagan or Judeo-Christian ideas. Shamaatae is also the author of several books of occult literature, some under the pseudonym Vexior, which explore in depth many of the same ideas that form the structure of Arckanum’s albums.” Natalie always finds the obscure black metal chestnuts, and here’s another one. How about a raw, primal dose of Norse-themed ugliness? You better appreciate it since Odin gave his eye for you!

Paganizer – World Lobotomy Review

By Steel Druhm on May 7, 2013 in 2.5, 2013, Cyclone Empire, Death Metal, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Death Metal, 3 comments

“More Rogga?? With Mr. Johansson being involved in one of every three reviews I write lately, maybe we should change the website name to Rogga o Rama. I’ve recently examined his Megascavenger and Just Before Dawn projects and here he is again with his main outfit, Paganizer (he also has a collaboration with Paul Speckmann of Master coming in a few weeks). The man is an omnipresent force in the Swedish death scene (hell, he IS the Swedish death scene) and he’s been responsible for lots of rich, creamy death metal. In all honesty though, I’ve always found Paganizer to be a pretty spotty act. Some of their early output was solid and some of the more recent stuff was less so.” So does World Lobotomy cause brain damage or suffer from it? Our resident Rogga expert Steel Druhm is back from the nervous hospital to provide his diagnosis.

Tormented – Death Awaits Review

By Alex Franquelli on May 3, 2013 in 2.0, 2013, Death Metal, Listenable Records, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Death Metal, 1 comment

“Talk about stereotypes. Let me provide you with the keywords: Swedish, death, metal, riffs. You get the picture: forty minutes of carefully packed distortions and growls to dance the night away, while remembering the good old days. Days when the underground was a truly transnational parallel world (trust me: I’ve seen it) connecting the various scenes at a sub-level: one carefully avoided by the majors, the media and almost all of your friends (the cool ones, at least).” Join Alex as he reminisces about the good old days, where death metal was … well… underground and uncool.

Spiritual Beggars – Earth Blues Review

By Steel Druhm on April 26, 2013 in 2013, 4.0, InsideOut, Reviews, Stoner Rock, Swedish Metal, Heavy Metal, Stoner Rock, 6 comments

“One of our readers recently commented that we convinced him the only independent bands were stoner/doom bands. That sentiment is surely understandable given the enormous volume of the stuff cropping up these days. It’s not limited to independent bands either, as Spiritual Beggars clearly demonstrates again on album number eight, Earth Blues. Since Michael Amott’s (Arch Enemy, Carcass) long-lived stoner/retro-rock project clearly isn’t going away, you might as well put on the obnoxiously colorful tie-dye shirt (the theme this time appears to be radioactive orange) and enjoy the homage to all things late 60s/early 70s.” Set the lava lamps to “wake and bake” and get settled into your bean bag chairs, the Spiritual Beggars are back to shake your VW van! Steel Druhm shook off his contact high to tell you if this is worth your free love.

Ghost – Infestissumam Review

By Steel Druhm on April 24, 2013 in 2.0, 2013, Heavy Metal, Loma Vista Recordings, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Heavy Metal, 54 comments

“Like many others in the metalverse, Steel Druhm got caught up in the hype surrounding the strangely addictive pope-isms of mysterious cult rockers Ghost and their stellar debut Opus Eponymous. They had a wicked sound, a cool, throwback charm and the tunes were as catchy as athlete’s foot. While there was a nagging worry they might be a one-off novelty act and would fold up shop like a fly-by-night carnival, I was anxious to get my hands on the not so long-awaited followup, Infestissumam. After some time with the album and after giving this serious thought, I’ve come to the conclusion that Opus Eponymous was their version of The Warning, and Infestissumam is their attempt at a Rage for Order. While Queensryche was able to make the jump from a straight-forward metal album to a more cerebral, progressive sound due to elbow grease, spit (courtesy of Mr. Tate) and sheer talent, Ghost is not quite so lucky.” Ghost blew away the metal world with their debut, but Steel Druhm thinks they may be haunted by their own early success. Join him as he goes Ghostbusting.

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!

Just Before Dawn – Precis Innan Gryningen Review

By Steel Druhm on April 17, 2013 in 2013, 4.0, Chaos Records, Death Metal, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Death Metal, 4 comments

“Another project from Rogga Johansson? When does the man sleep and find time for the finer things in life, like beer and Mexican wrestling? These questions plague me as I peruse the list of bands, side-projects and side-side projects which Rogga has his paws on (The 11th Hour, Paganizer, Demiurg, Megascavenger, Ribspreader, etc. etc.). Now you can add Just Before Dawn, which is his collaboration with Anders Biazzi (Blood Mortized, ex-Amon Amarth) and a gaggle of friends from bands like Puteraeon, Zombification, Revel in Flesh and Godhate. Together they’ve churned out a crusty, thick and vicious ode to all things Bolt Thrower and Asphyx, which is similar to Rogga’s recent work with Megascavenger, but better and more consistent.” Do you like Bolt Thrower? Do you think metal and war go hand in hand? Are you okay with retro Swedish death? If the answer to all these questions is yes, join Sgt. Steel Druhm on the front lines as he examines Just Before Dawn.