It’s time to get morbid and slam into the pit to the sound of the crushing Death Metal by this up-and-coming act hailing from Sweden.
It’s time to get morbid and vile with some old school Death Metal made in Karlskrona, known as Sweden’s only baroque city, pulverizing your senses and leaving you completely disoriented just the way we love in extreme music. I’m talking about the infernal duo comprised of guitarist J. Åberg and bassist R. Svensson, who together formed in the year of 2008 a demonic entity known as Morbid Spawn. Shortly after the formation of the band, a four-track demo called Demo Anthology was released in 2009 and the duo started looking for a drummer for the band, but unfortunately they couldn’t find a permanent one after several tests with different candidates. The project was then put on hold until 2015 when they recorded a single just for fun, culminating with the release now in 2018 of their first official album, the five-track EP And So It Begins.
And they need only two seconds to start pulverizing everyone and everything that crosses their path in the opening track S.G.T.D, where the drums sound deeply violent and bestial while J. Åberg smashes his strings mercilessly, not to mention the song’s classic Death Metal lyrics (“The Rightful deprivation everlost in Obsolete / Surrounded by the Conceit, a False Valor of Yourself / Pandemonic Treason, Your Treachery induce us all /Benighted Bastard Of Filth, your downfall will succeed”); turning it into a highly recommended option for slamming into a nasty circle pit. Then showcasing deeper growls, which end up giving the music a more ferocious and raw vibe, Path To The Celestrial Realm brings forward flammable riffs accompanied by low-tuned and menacing bass lines that will embrace you and prepare you for a demented drumming onrush. In other words, fans of classic Cannibal Corpse will love this crushing tune from the bottom of their bloody hearts; whereas Tortured feels even more rhythmic and devastating, with enraged and bestial roars permeating the air while the reverberating sounds of guitar and bass exhale sheer havoc and chaos, resulting in a first-class old school Death Metal hymn for the masses condensed in less than three minutes.
In the following tune, the action-packed, demolishing Immolated Incantation, visceral words are beautifully growled and barked (“Deceptional Distress / Pernicious Pain / Piercing through Me / From Within; Prevailed by Horrid struggle / Feeling it through my vein / Starting to feel insane /Insane!”), proving Death Metal gets even more entertaining when the lyrics are as aggressive as the music. As a matter of fact, the name of the song is already an ode to the purest form of Death Metal, sounding vile, crude and demented, in special the song’s nonstop beats and fills. And last but not least, Morbid Spawn fires another putrid and obscure tune named Never To Return, a crushing feast of demonic guitars, thunderous bass punches and endless violence, also presenting over six minutes of gruesome vociferations and that somber intricacy we love in Death Metal riffs, with the music flowing powerfully until everything morphs into an eccentric and Stygian ending.
You can listen to And So It Begins in its entirety on YouTube, purchase the album from Morbid Spawn’s BandCamp page and from the Podreira Records’ BandCamp page, or simply follow the band on Facebook. No matter which one of these options better suits your needs, you should be prepared to be pulverized inside the circle pit, slamming like a beast to the sound of this skillful Death Metal act from Sweden that might have taken a while to deliver their first opus to the world, but the wait was definitely worth it and opens a promising (and devastating) path for the band in a not-so-distant future in the world of underground extreme music.
Best moments of the album: Tortured and Immolated Incantation.
Worst moments of the album: None.
Released in 2018 Independent
Track listing 1. S.G.T.D 4:41
2. Path To The Celestrial Realm 3:47
3. Tortured 2:37
4. Immolated Incantation 4:05
5. Never To Return 6:29
Band members
J. Åberg – guitar, drum programming
R. Svensson – bass, drum programming
Witness the lynx, the antagonist of the antagonists and a symbol for knowledge and clairvoyance, in the form of the beastly Black Metal by Dagny Suzanne’s alter-ego, sticking its claws deep inside your flesh.
Our beloved Swedish Valkyrie of Black Metal, the talented multi-instrumentalist Dagny Suzanne, is finally back with her incendiary alter-ego Nachtlieder three years after the release of the excellent The Female Of The Species, showcasing another evolutionary step in her interesting and fruitful career with her third full-length album, simply titled Lynx. Once again accompanied by Martrum on drums, and with the fantastic support of the skillful Déhà (Musical Excrements), who not only provided some additional vocals and noises on the album but who also produced, mixed and mastered it, Nachtlieder will stick her claws deep inside your flesh with Lynx, proving her creativity and energy are soaring at this stage of her life.
Featuring a beautiful cover art based on a painting named Guldnyckeln by John Bauer, from 1915, and a digipack booklet portrait of Dagny by I Breathe Needles, the title of the album refers to the lynx as the antagonist of the antagonists (the wolves) and also as a symbol for knowledge and clairvoyance. The theme of the album is largely death and solitude, with many references to the lynx in cultural history, as well as to science in general. In other words, our Gothenburg-based she-wolf doesn’t just deliver high-quality music for our avid ears, but there’s also a lot to savor and learn in Lynx, one of those albums that you’ll get addicted to from the very first second without even noticing.
Distorted, wicked noises ignite a Black Metal feast entitled Claws and Bone, feeling more melodic and dissonant than the project’s previous albums, with Dagny sounding beautifully hellish and somewhat cryptic on vocals and on the guitar while Martrum adds a welcome dosage of intricacy to the music with his beats. Then we have the furious title-track Lynx, a song that grows in intensity until it reaches a pulverizing and mesmerizing tone, with the strident guitars by Dagny being flawlessly complemented by Martrum’s classic Black Metal beats and fills, resulting in a full-bodied sonority tailored for fans of modern-day Extreme Metal; followed by Song of Nova, an explosion of dark, crisp and low-tuned tones embellished by harmonious background elements, also presenting some welcome neck-breaking passages and Dagny’s usual poetic lyrics, giving even more depth to her already exhilarating music (“Dark frequencies, succumb to by every beast / As nova has swallowed the last light / And resigns / Their limbs tremble as the chords are strung / Fragile glass that shatter / Shards that dissolve into dust”).
The next tune, titled Nameless, Faceless, presents a creepy intro showcasing dark vociferations by Dagny, evolving into classy Scandinavian Black Metal with a superb job done by Dagny with both her slashing guitar lines and rumbling bass lines, flowing smoothly and powerfully from start to finish, whereas Law of Decay is a first-class, infuriated display of flammable and straightforward Black Metal, offering the listener a massive wave of classic riffs, unstoppable beats and those demonic, Stygian growls we all love so much in this type of music. And Dark Matter sounds closer to the music found in her two previous albums, especially the sound of the guitars and the hypnotizing music structure and pattern, with all instruments emanating metallic sounds that end up creating an enfolding atmosphere that will certainly captivate all your senses.
Eyes Ablaze, which brings forward what’s perhaps the most carnivore lyrics of the whole album (“Eyes, eyes staring in the dark in the misty night, eyes ablaze / Only star and spectre / Dare to meet my gaze / Claw, clawing round the walls round the bodies of the game / For carnage and grim sight / I will be to blame / Teeth, teeth sunken into meat into warm flesh, then like a flood / Fallen sheep and hound / Lapping blood”), is a rip-roaring Black Metal onrush that will leave you absolutely disoriented, showcasing an amazing performance by Martrum on drums while Dagny’s scorching riffs and visceral gnarls will crush your soul. And last but not least we have Moksha (a term in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism which refers to various forms of emancipation, liberation and release), bringing more of Dagny’s unparalleled music combined with the precision and complexity of Martrum’s drumming, therefore offering the listener over six minutes of classic Black Metal with a fresh twist, with all instruments getting heavier, darker and more piercing as the music progresses before all devastation gives place to a somber and atmospheric ending.
In summary, like what happened with Nachtlieder’s self-titled debut album in 2013 and The Female of the Species in 2015, Lynx is more than just a detailed and thrilling album of classic Black Metal, becoming Dagny’s outlet to the outside (and always dangerous) world we live in, and due to those additional layers the album ends up growing on you with each and every listen, revealing to your ears and mind previously unexplored grounds and nuances. Hence, if you want to venture through the realms of Natchlieder and Lynx deeper and deeper, you can enjoy the full album on YouTube and on Spotify, but of course the most recommended way to do so is by purchasing the album from Nachtlider’s BandCamp page, as well as from iTunes, Amazon and Discogs, always keeping an eye on the project’s official Facebook page for news and other nice-to-know details. As the beast called Lynx has just been unleashed upon humanity, the only thing that’s left for us to do is succumb to its music and energy, all in the name of meaningful extreme music.
Best moments of the album: Song of Nova, Law of Decay and Eyes Ablaze.
Worst moments of the album: None.
Released in 2018 Nigredo Records
Track listing
1. Claws and Bone 4:31
2. Lynx 3:52
3. Song of Nova 5:22
4. Nameless, Faceless 5:04
5. Law of Decay 4:25
6. Dark Matter 4:47
7. Eyes Ablaze 3:56
8. Moksha 6:19
Band members Dagny Susanne – vocals, all instruments
A furious and aggressive fusion of Marduk’s classic Black Metal with their more contemporary warlike sound, proving once again why they’re one of the biggest names in the history of extreme music.
Following a similar (and obviously amazing) pattern from their previous albums, focusing on historical World War II lyrical themes like what they did in the demolishing Frontschwein, released in 2015, Swedish Black Metal regiment Marduk returns to the battlefield with another skull-crushing release, entitled Viktoria, the fourteenth studio album in the undisputed career of those Babylonian gods of extreme music. From the devastating sonic assault blasted by the band on the opening track “Werwolf” to the very last second in the closing tune “Silent Night”, Marduk deliver a furious and aggressive fusion of their classic Black Metal with their more contemporary warlike sound, proving once again why they’re one of the biggest names in the history of extreme music.
And the horde comprised of Daniel “Mortuus” Rostén on vocals, Morgan “Evil” Steinmeyer Håkansson on the guitar, Magnus “Devo” Andersson on bass and Fredrik Widigs on drums is not afraid at all of the controversy and negative reaction that the society and the media might have regarding their music and lyrics. “Overall, I would say we have a fascination with the whole war machine,” comments Morgan. “At least from my point of view, the Germans had the most fascinating machinery and equipment. Viktoria is not a standpoint, however. It’s just a reflection of history, the way it happened. With that in mind, it’s more interesting to write a soundtrack tied to specific historical events. Look at movies, for example. They’ve tackled both sides of World War II. So, Viktoria is more about history. Nothing more. Nothing less,” the axeman clarifies.
Werwolf (German for “werewolf”), which was a Nazi plan that began development in 1944 to create a resistance force which would operate behind enemy lines as the Allies advanced through Germany, was the inspiration for the opening track in Viktoria, with the wailing sirens warning about the Black Metal attack that’s about to begin and with Mortuus sounding insane and enraged on vocals while Evil delivers his usual scorching riffs in two intense minutes of extreme music. Following that demonic start we have June 44 (the best known D-Day is during World War II, on June 6, 1944, the day of the Normandy landings, initiating the Western Allied effort to liberate mainland Europe from Nazi Germany), closer to their more classic sonority with Fredrik crushing his drums in a perfect depiction of how warlike Black Metal should always sound, with the rumbling bass by Devo adding more ferocity to the overall result and the lyrics vociferated by Mortuus matching the music flawlessly (“Stubborn Jabos rip the sky / on wings of inferno into chaos / Burnt offering – killing ground / drowning in blood over and over again / See naval fire rain down / living and dead unite in a stream of anguish / A dance in the sands / of Juno and Sword / a waltz in the flames / of June 44”). And their devastation goes on in Equestrian Bloodlust, a straightforward Black Metal blasted by the quartet where Mortuus sounds even more demented than in their previous albums, while Evil and Devo are in absolute sync with their strings, generating those reverberating, evil tones we all love so much.
Tiger I, a German heavy tank of World War II deployed from 1942 in Africa and Europe which final designation was Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger Ausf. E, gave the Wehrmacht its first armoured fighting vehicle that mounted the 8.8 cm KwK 36 gun. Musically speaking, it feels like a natural “sequel” to Frontschwein’s “503”, also bringing elements of Doom Metal and Blackened Doom; however, it’s not as imposing and a bit generic, despite its austere words (“Teutonic knights of old march once again / Grand horse of steel, sword of flame – the ground is shaking / Massive apparatus of death, 58 tons of hate / unforgivingly rolling in to seal your fate”). Narva, the third largest city in Estonia, suffered devastating bombing raids on March 6 and 7, 1944 by the Soviet Air Force, destrying the baroque old town. By the end of July, 98% of Narva had been destroyed, and the music blasted by Marduk flawlessly depicts the utter devastation that happened in the city, with Fredrik once again sounding bestial on drums while Mortuus growls and gnarls manically (not to mention the song’s uprising ending). In other words, this will certainly inspire fans to slam like beasts into the circle pit during their live concerts. After such awesome tune, the slashing riffs by Evil ignite the heavy and headbanging The Last Fallen, exploding into berserk Black Metal led by Fredrik and his machine gun-like beats and fills, being effectively accompanied by the thunderous bass by Devo.
The title-track Viktoria is that trademark in-your-face Black Metal by Marduk, sounding as frantic and furious as it can be, with Mortuus spearheading the horde with his sick growling. In addition, there’s even space for some welcome progressiveness added to the sound, not to mention how infernal Fredrik sounds behind his drums. Then we have The Devil’s Song, or “SS marschiert in Feindesland” (“SS march in enemy territory”), also known as “Teufelslied” (“The Devil’s song” in German), a marching song of the Waffen-SS (the armed wing of the Nazi Party’s SS organization) during World War II, and Marduk’s “tribute” to that song is simply devastating, with the initial riffs by the bulldozer Evil piercing your brain mercilessly before all hell breaks loose. Last but not least, closing the album we have another somber, sluggish tune inspired by the most demonic form of Doom Metal, named Silent Night, representing the aftermath, the sadness and pain post-war, with a perturbing performance by Mortuus on vocals. and while listening to this crushing chant don’t forget to break your neck and spinal cord with some full-bodied headbanging.
In summary, if you love old school Black Metal and also nurture a deep interested in all things World War I and II, Viktoria is a must-have album in your “collection of evil”. The Swedish quartet takes no prisoners in their battle for extreme music, and their streak of amazing albums just keeps growing with Viktoria, which by the way is on sale at several locations as you can see HERE. Moreover, as Marduk are extremely active in the scene, always touring all over the world, keep an eye on their official Facebook page to be promptly informed of when they’re about to unleash a brutal Black Metal war in your city. Then, after the concert is over, if you’re one of the survivors you can celebrate “Viktoria” together with one of the most important and decimating Black Metal hordes of all time.
Best moments of the album: June 44, Narva, Viktoria and The Devil’s Song.
Worst moments of the album:Tiger I.
Released in 2018 Century Media
Track listing 1. Werwolf 2:02
2. June 44 3:49
3. Equestrian Bloodlust 2:51
4. Tiger I 4:12
5. Narva 4:31
6. The Last Fallen 4:25
7. Viktoria 3:26
8. The Devil’s Song 3:46
9. Silent Night 4:12
Band members Daniel “Mortuus” Rostén – vocals
Morgan “Evil” Steinmeyer Håkansson – guitar
Magnus “Devo” Andersson – bass
Fredrik Widigs – drums
Guest musicians Ella Thornell, Moa Asp & Tuva Ekstrand – backing vocals or “Werwolf”
Living is an act of courage, and this Melodic Death Metal act from Sweden has the perfect soundtrack for that.
Founded by Greek multi-instrumentalist Pauli Souka in 2012 in Vantaa, a city in Finland that is part of the inner core of the Finnish Capital Region along with Helsinki, Espoo, and Kauniainen, but currently located in Hudiksvall, a Swedish city also known as Glada Hudik due to its hospitality and social life, the heavy-as-hell metal unity known as Coldbound returns with a brand new opus titled The Gale, their first Melodic Death Metal album to date. If you got used to the Black Metal-inspired approach of their previous releases such as their 2015 album Rites Under Moonlight, get ready to be stunned by the new Coldbound, sounding more polished, doomed, darker and, therefore, being highly recommended for fans of Insomnium, Draconian, Swallow The Sun and Wolfheart, among other excellent Scandinavian Melodic Death Metal acts.
Featuring the aforementioned Pauli Souka on vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards and programming, accompanied by Swedish artist Paulina Medepona (also known as Satana Lucia, and who was also responsible for the incredible and obscure album art) and Finnish keyboardist Andras Miklosvari, the concept behind The Gale focuses on memories of nostalgia and personal struggles, having the purpose of raising the awareness of those who suffer from depression, those who have suicidal thoughts or those who feel lonely. The motto of the album, repeated continuously on the song “Shades of Myself” and displayed on the digipak version of it, is “living is an act of courage”, with the album’s lyrics being mostly inspired by personal struggles and somehow promoting optimism through dark times. Such important message only gets stronger and stronger as the music progresses, showcasing all the talent and hard work of Pauli and his crew and placing them as one of the most interesting names of the current underground scene.
In the intro 61° 43′ N 17° 07 E, which by the way are the coordinates for a point in Hudiksvall, the soothing sound of rain and an ethereal vibe suddenly explode into a feast of extreme music, setting the stage for The Invocation, highly inspired by the dark and pensive music by Insomnium and with Pauli firing his anguished growls while at the same time keeping the music mournful with his Doom Metal-like beats. Needless to say, the song’s lyrics exhale poetry (“Dark is the night, and the veils are drawn of shadows / Dark is the day, while the sun is no longer awake / The sun is calling for your dawn / These words colour countless shades I shall revoke beyond these shores / And drink your fading crimson tear”), and heaviness keeps pounding our heads in the also obscure but very melodic Endurance Through Infinity, where the guitar lines bring a touch of epicness from Folk and Viking Metal, with Pauli making sure we crack our necks in half headbanging to the song’s crushing rhythm.
Enhancing the impact and delicacy of their music thanks to the keyboards by Andras and the stunning vocals by Paulina, Coldbound deliver a touching creation titled The Eminent Light, where the melancholy flowing from the guitars create an interesting paradox with its doomed beats; followed by the title-track The Gale, which kicks off in full force with its Black Metal blast beats and an enfolding atmosphere. Furthermore, this is probably Pauli’s most demonic mode from the entire album, blasting infernal growls and scorching riffs during the whole song, as well as thunderous and dense bass lines. Then we have the fantastic My Solace, with its lyrics taken from the poem book of Kostas Karyotakis titled “Nostalgia” (“My solace will be seen – by scars upon my heart / My solace will be told – by letter of remorse / The bitter greet – a cold farewell / The olden sorrows – that ignite again”). Andras once again brings tons of flavor to the musicality with his keys, while Pauli gives a lesson in dark, melancholic and gripping Melodic Death Metal, flowing majestically until its astounding finale.
Winters Unfold is another neck-breaking creation by Coldbound, with its rhythm and vibe once again presenting hints of Folk Metal and with the strident guitars by Pauli going along flawlessly with his growls; whereas in Shades Of Myself a promising start solidifies into a classic Scandinavian Melodic Death Metal tune, as polished and vibrant as we can expect from a band like Coldbound, and once again with Pauli adding a good amount of intricacy to the overall sound through his beats. Lastly, how about an 11-minute aria of melodic and obscure extreme music entitled Towards The Weeping Skies to conclude the album? In this journey through the dark, the vocals by Pauli get to a point where they can be considered “anguished whispers”, not to mention the outstanding phantasmagorical keys in the background. Hence, you’ll be hypnotized by Pauli’s guitar lines before the music fades into a gentle and touching outro, accompanied by the sound of a heavy and gorgeous tempest.
The Gale is available for a full listen on YouTube and on Spotify, but if I were you I would definitely show my honest support to such distinct act by purchasing the album from their own BandCamp page or Big Cartel (in digipak format or as a digipak + shirt bundle), from iTunes, or from Amazon. Also, don’t forget to pay Coldbound a visit at their Facebook page and YouTube channel, and let their comforting darkness embrace you. If living is an act of courage as Coldbound say, then The Gale might be the perfect soundtrack for that tough but always rewarding adventure.
Best moments of the album: Endurance Through Infinity, The Gale and My Solace.
Worst moments of the album: None.
Released in 2018 Moonlight Productions
Track listing 1. 61° 43′ N 17° 07 E 2:40
2. The Invocation 5:22
3. Endurance Through Infinity 7:15
4. The Eminent Light 5:36
5. The Gale 7:35
6. My Solace 7:18
7. Winters Unfold 5:35
8. Shades Of Myself 5:36
9. Towards The Weeping Skies 10:58
Band members Pauli Souka – vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards, programming
Guest musicians Paulina Medepona – vocals on “The Eminent Light”
Andras Miklosvari – keyboards on “The Eminent Light”, “The Gale”, “My Solace” and “Winters Unfold”, orchestrations
Weaving a tapestry of triumph and tragedy, loss and remembrance, this Swedish quartet translates the beauty and melancholy of their homeland into first-class Blackened Folk Metal.
Born in 2009 under a frozen Swedish moon in the city of Växjö, Blackened Folk Metal horde Skogen has their sonic pentagram of albums in homage to the stark, nebular beauty of their motherland. Formed by vocalist and bassist Joakim Svensson and guitarist and vocalist Mathias Nilsson, who played together in other bands and shared the same musical vision, Skogen (which means “forest” in Swedish) released their debut album Vittra, in 2009, followed by Svitjod, in 2011, Eld, in 2012, I Döden, in 2014, and finally Skuggorna Kallar (or “the shadows call” from Swedish), now in 2018, all blending the robustness of Black Metal with the melancholy of folk music in a captivating manner, weaving a tapestry of triumph and tragedy, loss and remembrance.
Possessed by the mysteries of nature and dedicated to paying homage to its majesty, both in light and darkness, Skogen will offer your avid ears a polarity of sounds felt in their music as subtly beautiful melodies and clean vocals are woven into the more pervasive darker tones that saturate Skuggorna Kallar, like the blanket of night, heavy with dew. Joakim and Mathias, accompanied by Jonathan Jansson on the guitar and L. Larsson on drums, as well as an array of fantastic guest musicians, deliver their most complete and darkest work to date in their new album, a must-have for fans of the cold and austere sounds of the North.
The opening track of the album Det Nordiska Mörkret, is also one of their two with a Swedish name, meaning “the Nordic darkness”, beginning in full force and as heavy and somber as it can be, where the anguished clean vocals by Joakim bring a touch of melancholy to the music while the background elements such as the whimsical bowed lyre by guest Vittervärja also enhance the song’s taste and impact considerably. Faster and leaning towards classic Folk Metal, När Solen Bleknar Bort (“when the sun fades away” from Swedish) presents more aggressive and cavernous vocals, with the music flowing smoothly thanks to the amazing riffage by the band’s guitar duo, not to mention L. Larsson’s precise beats; and their darkened sounds keep haunting our souls in Nebula, a gripping fusion of Folk, Black and Doom Metal, with the guitar lines by both Mathias and Jonathan sounding truly captivating, resulting in an enfolding sonority that will please all fans of such distinct underground metal genre.
An ominous, almost tribal bridge titled Omen sets the tone for the bitterly cold and neck-breaking Frostland, where L. Larsson and his rhythmic beats dictate the song’s pace while the band’s stringed trio fires some lancinating and thunderous riffs and punches in a vibrant display of Blackened Folk Metal. Then a somber atmosphere embraces one of their darkest compositions, The Suns Blood, with Joakim growling like a demonic entity while L. Larsson and his Doom Metal beats keep the music lugubrious and vile, also presenting guitar riffs and solos that bring more electricity to the overall result (as well as its folk, acoustic moments), whereas a giant wave of Black and Folk Metal arises in one of their boldest creations, the amazing Beneath the Trees, with all band members sounding crisp and aggressive, generating an epic ambience perfect for Joakim and his anguished gnarls, also feeling like two or three songs in one. Lastly, the bad offers us The Funeral, another 8-minute Folk Metal aria starting in a smooth, almost acoustic manner before exploding into beautiful extreme music, fading into a melancholic piano piece courtesy of guest musician Dísa, and then again getting back to the band’s puissant sonority until the song’s soulful ending.
In case you want to show your appreciation for Skogen, you can pay them a visit at their Facebook page for news, tour dates and other nice-to-know information, and of course buy your copy of Skuggorna Kallar (available for a full listen on YouTube) from their own BandCamp page, from the special page dedicated to Skogen at the Nordvis Produktion website, or from several other retailers like iTunes and Amazon. In a nutshell, Skogen more than succeeded in translating the beauty and melancholy of their beloved Sweden into their multi-layered folk music, carving their name as one of the most interesting and exciting groups from the underground Swedish metal scene.
Best moments of the album: När Solen Bleknar Bort, Nebula and Beneath the Trees.
Worst moments of the album:Frostland.
Released in 2018 Nordvis Produktion
Track listing
1. Det Nordiska Mörkret 4:46
2. När Solen Bleknar Bort 4:54
3. Nebula 3:43
4. Omen 1:44
5. Frostland 4:24
6. The Suns Blood 4:33
7. Beneath the Trees 8:46
8. The Funeral 8:29
Band members Joakim Svensson – vocals, bass
Mathias Nilsson – guitars, vocals
Jonathan Jansson – guitars, vocals
L. Larsson – drums, vocals
Get ready to be put in a trance and to be taken on a unique musical journey by a psychedelic Swedish band and their “rock from another planet”.
With influences ranging over decades, Swedish Occult Rock band Spiral Skies has created a sound that can most easily be described as “rock from another planet”, a unique blend of folk, doom and 70’s-inspired rock music the likes of Jefferson Airplane, Curved Air and The Devil’s Blood, all embraced by a unique visual performance at their intense and enchanting live shows. After their debut EP A Queendom to Come, released in 2015, it’s time for Spiral Skies to further spread their sorcery with their brand new album beautifully titled Blues For A Dying Planet, an ode to the past that’s at the same time always looking into the future.
Formed in 2014 in the Swedish capital Stockholm, Spiral Skies are the talented Frida on vocals, Jonas and Dan on the guitars, Eric on bass and Daniel on drums, each one with a different musical background and distinct influences, but all sharing the same passion for 70´s genuine rock and metal music. In Blues For A Dying Planet, which features a classy cover illustration by Vadim Karasyov, cover and booklet design by Atmanoid, and cover photo by Björn Pettersson, the band brings forth an amalgamation of styles with a strong Psychedelic Doom Metal and Rock core essence, putting you in a trance and taking you to the golden years of rock, always spearheaded by the mesmerizing vocals by Frida.
An organ and the sound of the wind in the intro Black Hole Waltz ignite the feast of Rock N’ Roll and Heavy Metal named Awakening, with Jonas and Dan dictating the rhythm with their Iron Madein-ish riffs while Frida gives a lesson in passion and energy with her flamboyant vocals. Put differently, this rockin’ hymn has an old school Heavy Metal vibe that, when blended with its core Doom Metal essence, makes things even more captivating. Following such powerful start we have Dark Side of the Cross, a very good song to dance under the stars that leans towards the classic Doom Metal by Black Sabbath with a more whimsical Rock N’ Roll aura, also showcasing a great job done by Daniel with his intricate beats; and The Wizard’s Ball, where Frida keeps delivering sheer awesomeness through her charming and potent vocals, with the rest of the band keeping the music at a very pleasant and gripping pace, flowing smoothly until its climatic ending. Then it’s time to dance with Frida and the boys in Danse Macabre, a classic Hard Rock song with tons of psychedelic elements from Doom Metal added to its beautiful sonority, with Jonas and Dan blasting straightforward, old school guitar riffs that effectively help embellish the ambience.
Labyrinth of the Mind is perhaps the most Black Sabbath of all tracks, with a great balance between the heaviness of the guitar riffs and the gentle voice by Frida, resulting in a hypnotizing musicality perfect for closing your eyes and letting the band take you on a one-of-a-kind musical journey. In Shattered Hopes we’re treated to a hybrid between pure Psychedelic Rock and more contemporary Doom Metal and Hard Rock, uniting past and present through the riffs by the band’s guitar duo and the always fiery vocals by Frida; whereas the poetically-titled tune Left Is Right and Right Is Left Behind has its name translated into classic Rock N’ Roll with tons of psychedelia added to its mesmerizing waves. Furthermore, Eric with his solid bass lines and Daniel with his fierce beats create the perfect background for Frida to shine once again on vocals. And lastly, their feast of classy and gripping sounds is majestically concluded with the lesson in Psychedelic Rock and Metal named The Prisoner, a full-bodied voyage led by the heavy and very melodic guitars by both Jonas and Dan.
The enchanting voice by Frida and her Spiral Skies can be better appreciated through the band’s Facebook page and Spotify, and if you want to buy a copy of Blues For A Dying Planet and consequently have all that’s needed to prance around the fire pit under a moonlit sky, you can find the album on sale at the AOP Records’ BandCamp page or webstore, at the Nuclear Blast webstore, on iTunes or on Amazon. Although the 70’s might be long gone and everything is now just a distant memory, the music by bands like Spiral Skies is what keeps the spirit and passion of that golden decade burning bright inside our souls.
Best moments of the album: Awakening, Danse Macabre and The Prisoner.
Worst moments of the album: None.
Released in 2018 AOP Records
Track listing 1. Black Hole Waltz 1:25
2. Awakening 3:31
3. Dark Side of the Cross 4:04
4. The Wizard’s Ball 5:36
5. Danse Macabre 4:18
6. Labyrinth of the Mind 5:42
7. Shattered Hopes 3:18
8. Left Is Right and Right Is Left Behind 4:38
9. The Prisoner 6:02
Band members Frida – vocals
Jonas – guitars
Dan – guitars
Eric – bass
Daniel – drums
Representing an exploration beyond the sane and mentally sound, this talented Swedish horde is ready to haunt our souls with seven unrelenting tracks of atmospheric and sinister Black Metal.
“Embrace your shadow self – your dark aspects. Don’t hide away. Let those harmless creatures, turn into raging monsters. Let chaos guide your consciousness. You are ov Shadows.”
Those few sentences frame the concept behind Swedish Black Metal horde Ov Shadows, representing an exploration beyond the sane and mentally sound. With their music and lyrics, Ov Shadows acknowledge the duality that divide a persona and the shadow self, continuing further into the dark, a portal into chaos without barriers and rules. And after crossing that portal, you’ll be ready to explore the sinister realms of Atmospheric Black Metal ruled by Ov Shadows in their brand new album, entitled The Darkness Between Stars.
Formed in the city of Gothenburg in 2016, the band comprised of RA (aka Ronny Attergran) on vocals and bass, AF (aka Andreas Frizell) and AA (aka Anders Ahlbäck) on the guitars, and JW (aka Jonas Wickstrand) on drums returns after their 2016 debut EP Monologues with more of their Stygian sound, delivering epic riffs that turn from mournful to triumphant in a way that is stirring and emotionally satisfying. In other words, The Darkness Between Stars has everything that one could possibly want out of a Black Metal album, those being a truly dark atmosphere, an epic feel, the right mix of melody and grimness, and an engaging song structure.
Ominous sounds emerge from the dark chambers of hell until the quartet begins their devilish mass in the title-track The Darkness Between Stars, blasting sheer brutality and blasphemy during its almost 7 minutes of music. RA sounds like a possessed demon on vocals, while JW delivers the most classic form of blast beats, generating a straightforward musicality recommended for admirers of the genre. In Bellowing Shadows, darkness and rage keep flowing from the band’s instruments in an excellent display of Black Metal, with their evil guitar duo AF and AA cutting our skin with their old school riffage, whereas RA’s gnarls sound and feel even more disturbing. And displaying hints of Doom Metal and Blackened Doom (but still reeking of putrid Black Metal) we have The Hanged Man, where JW continues his pulverizing path while both guitars sound as sulfurous as they can be, all spiced up by a sinister atmospheric passage before all hell breaks loose again.
The acid Disguised As Altruism is another demolishing Black Metal feast by Ov Shadows, with its guitars getting more and more scorching as the music progresses while the overall malignancy is considerably boosted by JW’s unstoppable beats, living up to the legacy of Scandinavian Black Metal. The Ritual of the Natural Flame already begins in full force, with the four members of the band summoning total darkness with their Stygian instruments, in special RA and his high-pitched demonic roars (not to mention the song’s somber and absolutely menacing break). After such beautiful blast of Black Metal, strident riffs and gnarls set the tone in the dense metallic extravaganza named Hordes Abiding the Narrator, with all instruments generating a mesmerizing dark ambience perfect for RA and his vociferations. Lastly, their final onrush of blasphemy and obscurity comes in the form of a 7-minute devastating tune named A Sky In Vain, where AF and AA create a wall of darkness with their riffs while JW switches between classic Black Metal drumming and Doom Metal-inspired beats, flowing into a melancholic and obscure ending.
If you want to take a detailed listen at The Darkness Between Stars, click HERE and enjoy this very cohesive and professional album in its entirety. Also, in order to show your true support to this skillful Swedish horde, simply visit their Facebook page for news, tour dates and other nice-to-know details about the band, and their YouTube channel for more of their unrelenting Black Metal. And of course, purchase The Darkness Between Stars on BandCamp or on Big Cartel, letting the somber music by Ov Shadows penetrate deep inside your mind, blackening your thoughts until there’s no way back.
Best moments of the album: Disguised As Altruism and The Ritual of the Natural Flame.
Worst moments of the album: None.
Released in 2018 Black Market Metal
Track listing 1. The Darkness Between Stars 6:58
2. Bellowing Shadows 5:40
3. The Hanged Man 6:26
4. Disguised As Altruism 5:56
5. The Ritual of the Natural Flame 7:19
6. Hordes Abiding the Narrator 5:58
7. A Sky In Vain 7:42
Band members RA – vocals, bass
AF – guitars
AA – guitars
JW – drums
The month of November in the Northern Hemisphere is always a synonym to colder temperatures and darker days, a sign that winter is coming and that all the happiness and warmth of the summer are long gone and will take even longer to return. Having said that, there’s nothing better than listening to some old school, menacing Scandinavian Black Metal to “celebrate” the Stygian season that’s about to begin, especially if it’s the Black Metal crafted by our metal chick this month, the multi-talented Swedish Valkyrie known as Dagny Susanne, the mastermind behind the top-notch extreme music project Nachtlieder. By the way, Nachtlieder is German for “night songs” or “songs of the night”. Do I need to say more?
Born on September 9, 1986 in Kiruna, the northernmost town in Sweden, situated in the province of Lapland, but currently residing in the multi-cultural Swedish city of Gothenburg where she moved about a decade ago, Dagny Susanne (whose real full name is Karin Dagny Susanne Hansson) mentioned she never had any friends who were into heavy music nor could buy any albums in her hometown because there wasn’t a record store there at that time, being “forced” to download music using Napster with a modem, which obviously made her discovery of metal painfully slow. Furthermore, growing up in Kiruna affected her personality and the way she currently sees things both in good and bad ways, but her interest in metal, in meeting musicians and starting a band motivated her to move to Gothenburg. However, nowadays Dagny feels a little nostalgic when talking about her beloved Kiruna, saying that not only it’s a beautiful and serene place, but it also inspires you to work, clearing your head and putting you in a good state of mind due to its calmness and distance from bigger cities like Gothenburg and Stockholm. For instance, just to give you an idea of how isolated Kiruna is, Luleå, the biggest town in the same region, is nothing more, nothing less than three hours away from it.
Since 2008, Dagny has been embellishing the world of extreme music with her Black Metal outlet Nachtlieder, being responsible for the songwriting, the lyrics, all vocal parts and pretty much all other instruments except for the drums, played in almost all her releases by her longtime friend Martrum (also known as Dödsdyrk, from bands such as Minion and Wicked). After the release of two demos in 2009 and a promo album in 2010, Dagny and her Nachtlieder became a much bolder and intense entity after unleashing upon humanity the full-length albums Nachtlieder, in 2013, and more recently The Female of the Species, in 2015, with the latter having the Biblical character of Eve, the female of the species, as the central character in the album’s narrative as mentioned in our review for the album. However, the original idea of the album was taken from the book “The Female of the Species”, by American writer Joyce Carol Oates, a collection of novellas about women committing different acts of violence for various reasons, slightly changing to the narrative about Eve after Dagny began to reference the phenomenon of “Satanic feminism” where Satan, a symbol for liberation, is also used as a feminist icon in her lyrics. In addition, Dagny said that, as she used to work in a public library, she reads a lot and that has a significant influence on her lyrics (but not on her music, thought), starting with small text fragments before coming up with what the lyrics should be about.
If you want to take a good listen at the music by Dagny and her Nachtlieder, I highly recommend you go to BandCamp, YouTube or Spotify to do so, being suddenly embraced by her visceral Black Metal such as in the excellent songs Eve, Beyond Death, Leave the View To the Rats and A Meager Escapism. The only “issue” with Natchlieder is that you won’t be able to find any live material or footage online, as Dagny hasn’t been able to form a full-bodied band yet. She obviously wants to perform live some time, but there are a few barriers to that such as the availability of musicians in her circle of friends that would be willing to play her music, and if those musicians would be reliable enough to replicate her music to an acceptable level to her.
Prior to becoming Nachtlieder, our Swedish black metaller was the bass player for Gothenburg-based Death/Black/Thrash Metal band Wicked from 2006 to 2010, having recorded with them a demo titled Chaos in 2007, the single Gospel of Sickness in 2009 and the split album Abominations, Chaos and Bestial Warfare in 2009 together with the bands Adokhsiny, Land of Hate, Надимач and Wargoatcult. She mentioned that she learned a lot from that time as it was her first extreme band, in special about arrangements and the role of the bass guitar in a band. The band unfortunately disbanded after their lead singer moved out of town with his family, but all three members are still friends and try to meet as much as possible whenever they’re in the same city. Apart from Wicked and obviously Nachtlieder, you can find Dagny in a couple of bands and projects as a guest musician, being the bassist and guitarist for the 2016 album Winds of Transilvania, by American/Swedish Black Metal project Nattsvargr (led by American vocalist Noctir); and doing some vocals and violin for a German Ambient Black/Doom Metal band named Black Autumn.
Dagny also has a very interesting (and obviously strong) connection with Black Metal from her homeland, having discovered the genre in her teens and consequently listening to Swedish bands for hours and hours, in special her favorite of all, Dissection. For instance, she mentioned that Dissection’s first gig after guitarist, vocalist and main songwriter Jon Nödtveidt (R.I.P.) got out of prison was the first big concert she ever went to. When asked about the general concept of cold and dark winter days being the reason why Scandinavian Metal is so unique, our Swedish diva said that there are of course bands that succeeded in portraying the extreme conditions and contrasts that exist in the northern parts of Scandinavia through their music, but that you can also see a significant difference between the metal scene in Norway, Sweden and Finland. Furthermore, when asked what defines Black Metal as a genre, Dagny said that when she wrote her bachelor in musicology about Black Metal she tried to identify the elements that define the music, finding that certain intervals were used both in chord progressions and melodies, therefore making Black Metal a music style for her no matter what the lyrical content is. For example, she said that if Black Metal is all about Satanism as several people think, then a band like Immortal, one of the biggest and most influential exponents of the genre, wouldn’t be Black Metal.
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As usual, I love to know about our metal girls’ opinions about women and sexism in the metal universe, and Dagny has a strong position about those topics, especially for playing a music style vastly dominated by men. First of all, she mentioned that gender isn’t the only thing that matters, citing other details such as age, profession, place of birth and residence and ethnicity, among others, as reasons why different people doing the exact same thing will certainly receive very distinct feedback from the society. However, she said she has already faced some not-so-subtle sexist comments directly to her face such as “chicks can’t play”, as well as the feeling of not being fully respected by guys whenever she was the only woman in the group. In addition, she said that although she doesn’t know for sure why the number of one-woman Black Metal bands is extremely low compared to one-man Black Metal projects, she feels that it might be due to the different networks between men and women and the conscious and subconscious differences in social sex. “From the day we’re born we’re not encouraged to do the same things and this includes the music we should listen to and perform and the instruments we should play”, said Dagny. Also, she thinks the well-established expression “’female-fronted metal” (which I confess I end up using quite often i my reviews and discussions) doesn’t really make sense at all, like the term “female vocals” instead of “clean vocals” when the singer is not a man, and that applies to Nachtlieder as very few people would associate those expressions with the type of music she plays.
As any musician in our modern-day society, Dagny also has to deal with illegal downloads of her music, but she doesn’t see those as a huge threat to music in general as many others do. She said that the biggest trouble for artists like her concerning illegal downloading is that they can’t keep track of their listeners, and knowing who her listeners are and that there are people out there who appreciate her music is always a boost to her creative process. She thinks that people who can afford it should prioritize paying for their music consumption, and the ones who can’t pay for it should at least be part of an informal “marketing campaign” by sharing the bands’ Facebook and BandCamp pages, leaving positive comments on YouTube, among other small but meaningful acts. The only thing that really bothers her in this case is when an album leaks before the release date, as she finds that really disrespectful towards the hardworking labels and artists. Furthermore, Dagny also considers the way music is shared by fans on the internet extremely positive for independent artists like herself, saying that for example fan initiatives like the Facebook community Death Metal Girls and the YouTube series The Female Vocalists of Extreme Music are great options for headbangers who want to broaden their knowledge of female artists in metal.
Lastly, one might think that a musician like Dagny, coming from the northernmost part of Sweden and playing the ominous Black Metal by Nachtlieder, must draw most or all of her inspiration in the night, but in reality that’s not what happens to her during her creative process. Dagny said she’s inspired by her instrument and what she’s playing at the moment, with the calm and relaxed feeling from the middle of the night being of course something she loves but that due to her working schedule is not something she can fully enjoy anymore. For instance, one of my favorite songs from The Female of the Species, the fantastic Nightfall, was written at night and had parts of its lyrics inspired by the first part in the Arnold Schoenberg opera Pierrot Lunaire, also known as “Moonstruck Pierrot”. I guess everyone reading this tribute to Dagny has already gotten “moondrunk” in life, feeling dizzy or lightheaded after staying awake for an entire night, but of course very few of us are capable of delivering such vibrant and captivating music by ourselves like this high-skilled woman who left her hometown, the distant city of Kiruna, to conquer the world of extreme music with her undisputed, raw and totally awesome Black Metal.
“My own purpose with feminism is not to blame the trouble in the world on a specific group of people, but to raise the questions. Make people think about how they treat others and why. It’s all about recognizing human value, in the metal scene, but most of all outside of it. I’m certainly responsible too and no one is without flaws. We’re all products of the societies we live in.” – Dagny Susanne
A good balance between the classic days of the band with the more modern path they decided to venture after the arrival of frontwoman Alissa White-Gluz. But please, they need to stay away from clean vocals.
Will to Power, the tenth studio album by Swedish Melodic Death Metal icons Arch Enemy, might be far from being a masterpiece, but at least in my humble opinion it’s a considerable improvement from their previous installment, the uninspired War Eternal, released in 2014. The first Arch Enemy album to feature guitarist Jeff Loomis (Nevermore, Conquering Dystopia) as well as clean singing as lead vocals, Will to Power presents a good balance between the classic days of the band with Angela Gossow on vocals with the more modern path they decided to venture after the arrival of frontwoman Alissa White-Gluz, with each song having its own soul and purpose on the album.
Although Jeff definitely brought a new dynamism to the music by Arch Enemy after joining the band in 2014, I guess it was the departure of Nick Cordle that same year that had the most positive impact on the songwriting by Michael Amott, who seems to have gotten rid of the damaging “generic” virus that infested his music in War Eternal. Furthermore, another nice touch in Will to Power is the album’s stylish and meaningful cover art, designed by American artist Alex Reisfar. “The human skull as a central focal point, the flesh sort of falling off into the circular pattern. The snake ouroboros weaving in and out of the mouths and throats of the severed heads of a wolf, a goat and a vampire bat… All representing self-determination and a predatory, almost parasitic will to power”, explained Mr. Amott, and as the music progresses in the album you’ll realize how powerful the art is and how much it enhances the impact of the whole album.
Set Flame to the Night is a classy intro perfect for their live performances, warming up the listener for the high-octane anthem The Race, my favorite song of the album, where Alissa and drummer Daniel Erlandsson take the lead with their wicked growls and unstoppable beats, respectively, violently questioning the dangerous direction our society is taking (“I heard there was a race / Where we’re all one race / Color, gender, age never could dictate / I saw there was a time / When we valued all life / Nobody oppressed, everyone had rights / Suddenly, in an age where the distance between us is binary / All we see, is an internal war friendly fire in the sky and respect on the floor”). Less intense and more melodic, Blood in the Water, another fantastic choice for their live concerts, transpires old school Arch Enemy with a pinch of their contemporary creations, with the flawless guitar duo comprised of Michael and Jeff being absolutely on fire, blasting slashing riffs and solos throughout the whole song. And in The World Is Yours we face more insane riffs by Michael and Jeff, not to mention the always awesome keys by guest musician Jens Johansson (Stratovarius) and the song’s sing-along, catchy chorus (“If you want the world / Use your mind / Take control / Feel the strength / Rise from within / If you really want it the world is yours”).
One of the first tracks in Will to Power to be revealed, The Eagle Flies Alone, is not as gripping as the rest of the album despite its powerful lyrics, with Alissa showcasing a good vocal performance, though, as well as the good job done by Michael and Jeff on the guitars; followed by Reason to Believe, which really feels like if Arch Enemy meets The Agonist as it’s the first ever Arch Enemy song with lead clean vocals in almost its entirety (with some growls added to make it less cheesy). It’s indeed a power ballad that might make their newer fans happy, but it’s unfortunately too generic compared to what they’re capable of. Not even Michael’s own brother, ex-Arch Enemy guitarist Christopher Amott, is capable of saving it from being tiresome. On the other hand, bassist Sharlee D’Angelo kicks off the dark and belligerent tune Murder Scene, where Alissa sounds truly enraged adding even more electricity to the song’s already boisterous rhythm. Put differently, it’s top-notch Melodic Death Metal with hints of traditional Death Metal, with highlights to the superb job done by both Michael and Jeff with their fiery strings; whereas First Day in Hell, the most ominous of all songs, brings forward a neck-breaking main riff boosted by Alissa’s obscure, deep gnarls and screams, and as the story being told evolves you’ll feel your soul getting darker and darker.
Then we have the instrumental bridge Saturnine, shaping up the sonority for the multi-layered and gripping Dreams of Retribution, a Melodic Death Metal feast that brings together the past, present and future of the band, with its guitars and bass being in total sync while Daniel adds progressiveness to the musicality and Jens once again kicks ass with his spot-on keyboard notes. The second to last song of the regular version of the album, titled My Shadow and I, is another violent creation by Arch Enemy, sounding slightly less inspired than some of the previous songs but still above average, mainly due to the intricacy found in drums and bass lines. Finally, A Fight I Must Win might be slower than most songs, but that doesn’t mean it’s not cohesive, piercing and metallic, representing almost to perfection the path Arch Enemy has been following with their latest albums, closing Will to Power in a strong way. Actually, if you go for the limited edition digipak, you’ll be treated to their cover for English Street Punk band Charged GBH’s 1982 song City Baby Attacked by Rats (you can listen to the original version HERE), an amazing version by Michael, Alissa & Co. that’s definitely worth the investment in the special edition of the album.
Overall, Will to Power is a pretty decent album by Michael and his crew, being recommended for all fans of modern Melodic Death Metal. After listening to the album for the very first time, I had some mixed feelings about some of the songs, while others (the ones where clean vocals where pretty much nonexistent) hit me in a very positive manner right from the first second, proving that, at least to my ears and my heart, Arch Enemy still got it and can deliver high-end metal music if they want to. I honestly believe the best thing the band can do right now is to stay away from the idea that clean vocals are a good addition or variation to their music, because in the end that’s certainly not what made this band so relevant and admired in Heavy Metal. I’m not saying Alissa is not a good singer when using her clean voice; quite the contrary, she’s an incredible vocalist, but Arch Enemy are a synonym to rebelliousness and anger, things that can only be represented by some high dosages of rabid screams and deep guttural growls.
Best moments of the album: The Race, Blood in the Water, Murder Scene and Dreams of Retribution.
Worst moments of the album:The Eagle Flies Alone and Reason to Believe.
Released in 2017 Century Media
Track listing 1. Set Flame to the Night (instrumental) 1:18
2. The Race 3:15
3. Blood in the Water 3:55
4. The World Is Yours 4:53
5. The Eagle Flies Alone 5:15
6. Reason to Believe 4:47
7. Murder Scene 3:50
8. First Day in Hell 4:48
9. Saturnine (instrumental) 1:09
10. Dreams of Retribution 6:40
11. My Shadow and I 4:05
12. A Fight I Must Win 6:37
Limited Edition Digipak bonus track 13. City Baby Attacked by Rats (Charged GBH cover) 2:48
Band members Alissa White-Gluz – vocals
Michael Amott – lead guitars, backing vocals
Jeff Loomis – lead guitars, backing vocals
Sharlee D’Angelo – bass
Daniel Erlandsson – drums
Guest musicians Jens Johansson – keyboards on “The World Is Yours”, “Saturnine” and “Dreams of Retribution”
Christopher Amott – guitars & keyboards on “Reason to Believe”
Use your brain and listen to the cult album by this distinct Swedish act, presenting an austere and impactful fusion of Rap and Heavy Metal.
A few years before Limp Biskit, Slipknot or any other band considered part of the Nu Metal scene from the 90’s/2000’s started, there was already a Swedish band called Clawfinger playing a very original mix of Rap Metal, Hardcore, Rapcore, Funk Metal and even Industrial Metal in a very aggressive, politicized and anti-racist way. Although the band was formed back in 1989, it was just in 1993 that they launched their debut album called Deaf Dumb Blind (which included a very controversial song called “Nigger”, but again, in the most anti-racist way possible), and a couple of years later, in 1995, they launched their most interesting album in my humble opinion, titled Use Your Brain. If you hate Rap by all means and/or if you’re too narrow-minded to accept it mixed with Heavy Metal, don’t even bother listening to it. However, if you enjoy heavy music no matter what, then Use Your Brain might be an amazing addition to your day-to-day playlist.
Use Your Brain starts at a high note with my favorite song from the album, Power, which talks about exactly the opposite of most songs with the word “power” in their names: power can be really harmful to anyone who doesn’t know how to use it properly, which happens to the majority of the people that have it anyway. “Power to the one who doesn’t want it / Do you want it why do you want it”, screams lead singer Zak Tell, accompanied by some excellent heavy riffs by Erlend Ottem and Bård Torstensen and keyboards by Jocke Skog. The song is followed by Pay the Bill, which keeps the energy level up, and Pin Me Down, a more rhythmic track with strong lyrics that ended up becoming one of the band’s biggest classics.
The next song is called Wipe My Ass, a good example of how the band was able to unite Rap and Metal in a very solid way. The only thing I don’t understand is why sometimes I find this song with a different name, “Waste My Time”. Well, it’s probably due to the “beautiful” expression used in the original name, but honestly, who cares about that? Anyway, the next two tracks, Die High and It, are just average songs, especially the second one which is quite bland compared to the rest of the album. Fortunately the next song, called Do What I Say, takes the album back on track with its simple but strong riffs and amazing lyrics about the emotional and sometimes physical (and endless) war between parents and their kids, acidly declaimed by Zak Tell and his hostile vocals. I normally don’t add a huge chunk of any lyrics in my reviews, but this one is so good that deserves to be appreciated almost in full. Besides, although this song might have been recorded over 20 years ago, it still sounds fresh and contemporary, just to show you how parenting will never, ever be an easy task to anyone.
“I‘ve paid to raise you good Done everything I could so don’t you dare to say That I ever cared about you anyway I gave you good food to eat I kept you on your feet I gave you all my good advice Not once did I hear you thank me for all that I’ve done You don’t know anything About my suffering I went through a lot of pain Just to get you where you are today If I ever hit you It’s because I have to You have done something wrong And you deserve the punishment, you’ll have to pay”
The rest of the album doesn’t have anything too special: Undone is considerably tasteless, while What Are You Afraid Of doesn’t do any good but at the same time it doesn’t harm the album. Things get a lot better with Back to the Basics, especially the eerie sound the band created with the guitars and keyboards working together; Easy Way Out with its addictive chorus and the groovy drums by Ottar Vigerstøl; and Tomorrow, a very good Rap Metal track that powerfully ends this very original and catchy album, with highlights to the rumbling sounds generated by Ottar and bassist André Skaug. In addition, the front cover is absolutely precise in summarizing the content of the music in the album (despite being fairly simplistic), and that “less is more” type of art is most probably the reason why I love it so much.
Use Your Brain 2004 Remastered Edition
The 2004 remastered version of the album also includes 3 bonus tracks and 3 bonus videos, so if you’re interested in buying it I suggest you go after the remastered one (which by the way is a lot easier to find in any webstore). Clawfinger released a statement around August 2013 saying they split up, which was a bummer at that time based on the quality of their music, but fortunately it seems those Swedish metallers are back in action and ready to deliver us another blast of their venomous music, going against the sea of boredom that dominates the scene nowadays. Hence, Use Your Brain (which can be enjoyed in its entirety HERE) is far from being a true masterpiece, but it’s an extremely enjoyable album with meaningful lyrics crafted by talented musicians and, above all, an excellent option to expand your horizons in the world of heavy music and a lot better choice than most of the crap the media makes us swallow every single day. In other words, use your goddamn brain at least once and enjoy the austere music by this unique band hailing from Sweden, alright?
Best moments of the album:Power, Pin Me Down, Do What I Say and Back to the Basics.
Worst moments of the album:It and Undone.
Released in 1995 WEA/MVG (Warner Music Group)
Track listing 1. Power 3:14
2. Pay the Bill 4:20
3. Pin Me Down 4:10
4. Wipe My Ass 3:13
5. Die High 2:34
6. It 5:21
7. Do What I Say 4:25
8. Undone 4:11
9. What Are You Afraid Of 3:47
10. Back to the Basics 2:27
11. Easy Way Out 2:39
12. Tomorrow 4:09
2004 Remastered Edition bonus tracks & videos 13. Better Than This 3:36
14. Three Good Riffs 3:56
15. Armageddon Down 3:36
16. Pin Me Down (Video Clip) 4:10
17. Tomorrow (Video Clip) 4:09
18. Do What I Say (Video Clip) 4:25
Band members Zak Tell – lead vocals
Jocke Skog – keyboards, vocals
Erlend Ottem – lead guitar
Bård Torstensen – rhythm guitar
André Skaug – bass
Ottar Vigerstøl – drums
It’s time to get morbid and vile with some old school Death Metal made in Karlskrona, known as Sweden’s only baroque city, pulverizing your senses and leaving you completely disoriented just the way we love in extreme music. I’m talking about the infernal duo comprised of guitarist J. Åberg and bassist R. Svensson, who together formed in the year of 2008 a demonic entity known as Morbid Spawn. Shortly after the formation of the band, a four-track demo called Demo Anthology was released in 2009 and the duo started looking for a drummer for the band, but unfortunately they couldn’t find a permanent one after several tests with different candidates. The project was then put on hold until 2015 when they recorded a single just for fun, culminating with the release now in 2018 of their first official album, the five-track EP And So It Begins.
In the following tune, the action-packed, demolishing Immolated Incantation, visceral words are beautifully growled and barked (“Deceptional Distress / Pernicious Pain / Piercing through Me / From Within; Prevailed by Horrid struggle / Feeling it through my vein / Starting to feel insane /Insane!”), proving Death Metal gets even more entertaining when the lyrics are as aggressive as the music. As a matter of fact, the name of the song is already an ode to the purest form of Death Metal, sounding vile, crude and demented, in special the song’s nonstop beats and fills. And last but not least, Morbid Spawn fires another putrid and obscure tune named Never To Return, a crushing feast of demonic guitars, thunderous bass punches and endless violence, also presenting over six minutes of gruesome vociferations and that somber intricacy we love in Death Metal riffs, with the music flowing powerfully until everything morphs into an eccentric and Stygian ending.
THE HEADBANGING MOOSE 