Havamal Call of the North Released June 2017 Viking Metal/Melodic Death Metal Self-Released
Hailing from Sweden come Viking-themed death metallers Havamal. It’s kind of fitting that a band that has Viking themes would name themselves after one of the books in the Poetic Edda but now is not the time to be discussing Old Nordic literature. Formed in 2016, in the city of Stockholm, Call of the North is Havamal‘s first release.
The grandoise opening of the track Havamal sets the pace for the EP with its majestic and powerful orchestration coupled up with the spoken word. The other five tracks on the EP have a very Ensiferum-inspired sound, especially in the feral vocals that come screaming out like an enraged berserker. Dread Age stands out immediately with its savage assault of guitars and furious orchestral elements whereas Jotun War follows up with as a standard Viking metal anthem with hints of power metal thrown in for good measure.
Ragnarok is quite the dark composition, with the odd headbanging moment here and there and some Dimmu Borgir-esque moments. Call For Revenge gets the blood pumping with the Ensiferum influenced sound and powerful use of orchestration in the background. Call of the North ends with the memorable track Force of Judgement, which is a melting pot of sounds with catchy riffs and melodic verses.
Havamal show a lot of potential with this first release, though the band have still yet to find their sound. With their guitar driven sound combined with their orchestral moments and bestial vocals, Havamal could easily become a stand out band in the metal community.
Monoscream “Redemption” Swedish death metal Released on 21st September 2011 Via Dead Tree Records
Monoscream are currently in the studio recording their second album, but until that’s done and out, let me tell you about the previous (and debut) “Redemption”.
When one says “Swedish death metal” he means a lot more than a death metal band that comes from Sweden. The expression implies a degree of sophisticated melody that adds strength, not softness, to its aggression. And that’s what we have here – 10 tracks (plus an intro) of sheer Swedish death metal.
“Oppressors Hand” was their choice for filming a video and “Nation Wide” to take part in Sicksound’s compilation “A New Era” (see here), so saying these two tracks are some of the album’s highlights is somewhat obvious. But they’re far from being the only ones priming for their grinding riffs and sharp beats. “Follow Your Shadow”, “Jealousy” or “17 Years” are just as worthy of praise, for their classy shredding. There’s also “Parasite”, with a quite belligerent rhythm making it the speediest track. But my personal favorite is “Voice Of Resistance”, for its lively overall structure and beautiful guitar solo. And speaking of “voice”, extra kudos for Andreas Deverstam, who manages to growl the lyrics in a perceptible way.
One always aims to improve, to evolve, but if the upcoming album stays on the same quality level, I won’t complain. (4,5 / 5)
Century Media Records have proudly announced that they will be having the honour of releasing the first ever “official recordings” of Treblinka, one of the most notorious bands in the extreme metal world. The band were founded in 1987 by Johan “Lucifer Hellslaughter” Edlund and Jörgen “Juck the Ripper” Thullberg.
During their short existence, that spanned a total of two years, Treblinka released a grand total of two demos and one 7 inch EP. After the release of their last ever recording, which was the ever infamous Severe Abominations EP, the band changed its name to Tiamat and became one of the most influential metal bands in the nineties. Since then, the Treblinka recordings were never touched by the band but have been heavily shifted by bootleggers all over the globe.
However, as constant dripping wears down the stone, the time has come for the first authorised Treblinka release since 1989: Shrine Of The Pentagram, which will be released 7th October via Century Media as a king sized 3 CD mediabook, a deluxe box set with LP sized booklet as well as digital download.
Daniel Ekeroth, author of Swedish Death Metal has done an elaborate interview with Jörgen “Juck” Thullberg and Stefan “Emetic” Lagergren revealing many unknown details and a lot of entertaining side notes from the history of the band while Olivier Badin (writer for Terrorizer and Iron Fist) has interviewed Johan “Hellslaughter” Edlund for his view on the importance and influence of Treblinka.
‘Shrine Of The Pentagram’ tracklist (3CD):
Disc 1:
CRAWLING IN VOMITS (demo)
1. Crawling In Vomits
2. Earwigs In Your Veins
3. Hail To Cruelty
4. Cadaverous Odour
THE SIGN OF THE PENTAGRAM (demo)
5. Nocturnal Funeral
6. Evilized
7. Necrophagous Shadows
8. Mould In Hell
SEVERE ABOMINATIONS (7inch)
9. Severe Abominations
10. Earwigs In Your Veins
REHEARSALS
11. Hail To Cruelty (1989)
12. Earwigs In Your Veins (1989)
13. Mould In Hell (1989)
14. Evilized (1989)
15. Hail To Cruelty (2008)
Disc 2:
LIVE AT ROY (November 20th 1988)
1. Crawling In Vomits
2. Earwigs In Your Veins
3. Hail To Cruelty
4. Cadaverous Odour
LIVE AT VITA HUSET (February 25th 1989)
5. Intro
6. Necrophagous Shadows
7. Crawling In Vomits
8. Mould In Hell
9. Hail To Cruelty
10. Earwigs In Your Veins
11. Evilized
12. Cadaverous Odour
Disc 3:
LIVE SOMEWHERE IN STOCKHOLM (April 7th 1989)
1. Nocturnal Funeral
2. Crawling in Vomits
3. Cadaverous Odour
4. Necrophagous Shadows
5. Evilized
6. Hail To Cruelty
7. Earwigs In Your Veins
‘SUMERIAN CRY’ INSTRUMENTAL STUDIO OUTTAKES
8. Apotheosis Of Morbidity
9. Necrophagous Shadows
10. The Malicious Paradise
11. In The Shrines Of The Kingly Dead
12. Altar Flame
13. Evilized
14. Nocturnal Funeral
15. Where The Serpents Ever Dwell
‘Shrine Of The Pentagram’ tracklist (5LP):
Side A
CRAWLING IN VOMITS (demo)
1. Crawling In Vomits
2. Earwigs In Your Veins
3. Hail To Cruelty
4. Cadaverous Odour
Side B
THE SIGN OF THE PENTAGRAM (demo)
1. Nocturnal Funeral
2. Evilized
3. Necrophagous Shadows
4. Mould In Hell
Side C
SEVERE ABOMINATIONS (7inch)
1. Severe Abominations
2. Earwigs In Your Veins
Side D
REHEARSALS
1. Hail To Cruelty (1989)
2. Earwigs In Your Veins (1989)
3. Mould In Hell (1989)
4. Evilized (1989)
5. Hail To Cruelty (2008)
Side E
SOMEWHERE LIVE IN STOCKHOLM (April 7th 1989) – Part I
1. Nocturnal Funeral
2. Crawling in Vomits
3. Cadaverous Odour
4. Necrophagous Shadows
5. Evilized
Side F
SOMEWHERE LIVE IN STOCKHOLM (April 7th 1989) – Part II
1. Hail To Cruelty
2. Earwigs In Your Veins
LIVE AT ROY (November 20th 1988)
3. Crawling In Vomits
4. Earwigs In Your Veins
5. Hail To Cruelty
6. Cadaverous Odour
Side G:
LIVE AT VITA HUSET (February 25th 1989) – Part I
1. Intro
2. Necrophagous Shadows
3. Crawling In Vomits
4. Mould In Hell
Side H:
LIVE AT VITA HUSET (February 25th 1989) – Part II
1. Hail To Cruelty
2. Earwigs In Your Veins
3. Evilized
4. Cadaverous Odour
Side I:
INSTRUMENTAL STUDIO OUTTAKES – Part I
1. Apotheosis Of Morbidity
2. Necrophagous Shadows
3. The Malicious Paradise
4. In The Shrines Of The Kingly Dead
Side J:
INSTRUMENTAL STUDIO OUTTAKES – Part II
1. Altar Flame
2. Evilized
3. Nocturnal Funeral
4. Where The Serpents Ever Dwell
Sinister The Carnage Ending Released 28th September, 2012 Death Metal Massacre Records
Having been around for more than 20 years and still thriving in the metal scene, Swedish death metal band Sinister has definitely hit home with their newest full length album, The Carnage Ending. This album is full of memorable riffs, epic headbanging parts, and just an overall punishing sound that will literally give you chills by its shear awesomeness. This album is easily up to par, if not better, than their previous albums and has a consistent sound and style that defines them as a band.
The album starts with an intro song, Gates of Bloodshed, and for those who are fans of Sinister will know that they’re pretty fond of using intro songs on their albums. The buildup of the intro then is immediately followed with Unheavenly Domain’s opening riff. That heaviness is carried consistently through the rest of the album while being mixed with some slower parts as well.
The song Crown of Thrones is one song that stood out to me on this album. The song starts off slow, gradually building you up until you think it’s just about to get into the faster part, and then it stops and starts the buildup process all over again. While this was certainly a tease, I feel that the unexpected pause added more anticipation in wanting to hear the song and definitely got me more pumped. One other song that stuck out to me was Defamatory Content. This song gave me goosebumps in that the mix of slow, groovy riffs paired with the faster, neck-breaking riffs just made the song not only more interesting but I feel that it added to the heaviness as well.
2012 is just an overall good year for death metal, and Sinister definitely adds to that with this album. Their easily distinguishable vocals paired with their familiar guitar sound and blast beats makes this band a favorite of mine and will hopefully be a favorite of yours too. This album was beyond the expectations I had and I praise Sinister for still delivering brutal music even after all these years.
Aeon Aeons Black Released: 20th November, 2012 Death Metal Released via Metal Blade Records
I didn’t think that it was possible for Aeon to sound heavier than they already do, but they have proven me wrong with their newest album, Aeons Black. Aeon makes the kind of death metal that digs deep into your soul and is just a prime example of all things blasphemous and heavy. Their neck breaking riffs and punishing vocals definitely make this, in my opinion, one of the must have metal albums of 2012.
Starting with Still They Pray, you’re instantly hit with a wall of sound that gets you pumped up and instantly sucks you into this 15 track album. Usually I have a problem with so many instrumental songs being thrown onto albums, but I can honestly say that all 4 instrumental songs on Aeons Black only add to its shear awesomeness and brutality. Mixed with the heaviness of all the other tracks, it creates a spine-tingling buildup that makes you feel evil and inhuman.
The one song that stuck out to me the most on this album was I Wish You Death, which you can tell is definitely not a love ballad. Just the tempo and use of the whammy bar makes it stick out from the rest and really, to me, defines what this whole album is trying to portray: death metal with a bit of an added groove to it. Even though that was my personal favourite I thoroughly enjoyed the album as a whole and think that every second of every song is worth listening to.
Being my favourite band for the last few years, Aeon definitely did not disappoint with this album. I’m thoroughly impressed with their musicianship and their drive to stick true to their sound. Their passion is shown in their songs, and I believe they will continue on to create more hard-hitting death metal that will make the death metal community and Satan himself proud.
After releasing their debut album Bleeding the False back in 2005, Swedish death metal band Aeon have taken off in the metal scene and are favored by bands such as Cannibal Corpse. Being one of my personal favorite metal bands ever, I was ecstatic to have the privilege of interviewing front man Tommy Dahlström about the band’s new album Aeons Black, a possible U.S. and Canadian tour, and the perks of being on tour.
Lauren: Who do you consider to be big influences on your music?
Tommy: We grew up listening to Deicide, Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel and a few more bands. They were a big influence back then and still are.
L: Is there any major differences music wise between your newest album, Aeon’s Black, in comparison to your previous albums?
T: No I don’t think so. We still deliver death metal the Aeon way; aggressive but with groove.
L: Aeon seems to always play in Europe. Any plans for a U.S. or Canada tour in the future?
T: We have been offered many U.S tours over the years but had to turn them down because of financial problems. But we are working on it and I hope we can do Canadian and a U.S tour with this album in our back.
L: How did you come up with the video concept for Forgiveness Denied and do you plan on doing another video for your new album?
T: We made the video from the lyrics of the song. As simple as that. Yes, we are talking about making a video but it’s way too early to say anything about that here.
L: Where did the band’s hate for Christianity come from?
T: From my heart and soul. It’s not only the Christians, it’s all gods followers.
L: What do you enjoy most about touring, and what do you dislike the most about them?
T: The girls, hahaha. I enjoy touring, that’s what I want to do. It’s awesome to meet people that like death metal as much as I do. To stand on stage and play the music that I love and have sacrificed most of my life to is a dream come true. If the tour goes as planned then I don’t have any dislikes.
L: Your house is on fire and you only have time to grab 3 things: what would you grab?
T: Only need my rifle so I can shoot the asshole that did set my house on fire.
L: What’s your favorite Swedish food dish?
T: Blodpudding.
L: Anything you would like to say to your fans?
T: I hope to see you at our shows. Stay metal.
Aeon’s new album, Aeon’s Black, will be released on 20th November, 2012, make sure to get yourself a copy!
Today MetalSucks offers up an exclusive premiere of The Glowing Hate, the latest single of iniquity from Swedish death metal unit, Aeon. The track comes off the band’s forthcoming new full-length, Aeons Black, scheduled to drop this week Friday!
Comments guitarist Daniel Dlimi of the tune: “My goal with ‘The Glowing Hate’ was to write a really diverse song containing all sorts of elements and influences. Personally, I think it turned out great and it’s also the song that I am most satisfied with of the ones I wrote for the album. I also think [vocalist] Tommy [Dahlstöm] managed to write really great lyrics and awesome vocal patterns for it, and as usual it’s all about our everlasting hate against religion. The spoken parts at the end were something that Tommy and I came up with over a piss-warm beer in the studio after we were done with the main vocals of the song. It sounded cool so we decided to keep it.”
Already crowned, “one of the best death metal albums of 2012,” by Revolver Magazine and, “a masterpiece of goddamned death metal,” by The Metal Observer, Aeons Black is slated for release on November 16, 2012 through Metal Blade Records. The meticulously executed slab of sacrilegious sickness was recorded at Empire Studio in Östersund, Sweden, engineered, mixed and mastered by Ronnie Björnström at Garageland Studios and features striking cover art by Kristian “Necrolord” Wåhlin (Bathory, At The Gates, Dissection, Emperor, et al).
Check out the title track, in-studio video footage and pre-order info here.
AEON: Tommy Dahlstöm ˆ Vocals
Zeb Nilsson ˆ Guitar
Daniel Dlimi ˆ Guitar
Arttu Mallki ˆ Drums
Marcus Edvardsson – Bass
Grave Endless Procession of Souls Released: August 27th 2012
Death Metal Released via Century Media Records
I would describe Grave as the dark horse of the original Swedish Death Metal scene. Although never achieving the level of prestige attained by genre favourites Entombed and Dismember, they, like their contemporaries Unleashed have been one of the most consistent and reliable groups in their native scene. This may not be a coincidence. Whilst Dismember sadly decided to call it a day recently, and Entombed changed their style completely to a Punk/Death ‘n’ Rollcombination (not necessarily a bad thing), Grave kept chugging along producing more or less the same Old School Death Metal they had been making since their formation. After a turbulent middle period defined by several somewhat mediocre releases, Grave struck back with their 2010 release Burial Ground. Now, the band have returned with Endless Procession of Souls, featuring similar production values as well as similar a similar visual style and colour scheme on the album cover as its recent predecessor. It seems like the old vanguard are on a roll again, one that I hope continues well into this decade, and even beyond.
The album kicks off with the doomy instrumental intro “Dystopia”. I’m not usually one for intros unless they are especially good, but fortunately this one does its job and the band promptly moves into a blistering opening with “Amongst The Marble and the Dead”. The first impression I feel here is that the album achieves a similar ferocity to modern Death Metal bands, with a similar crisp and clinical production and clarity of instrumentation that can only be achieved with modern music producing technology. However this is not to say that the band have sacrificed their old school, deep and muddy sound, and fortunately the guitar tone is as crushing as ever, if not more so. It’s polished, but not to the point of sterility. In fact, this is almost what I would call the essential meeting of production sounds between the old school and the new wave in the genre. Death Metal, of all genres in the Metal world is also perhaps the guiltiest of sounding generic, partially due to the sheer volume of bands attempting its macabre style over the years – this band however, as fans would rightly expect, is a step above the competition, and are easily capable of writing some satisfyingly crunchy riffs and morbid lyrics.
There really isn’t all that much else left to say about this release. It’s more or less classic Grave song writing that should please long term fans. If you’re the kind of person that finds early Death Metal boring, then perhaps this album will feel like it drags sometimes across the 10 tracks and 45 minute run time, but that’s only because the band are not afraid to slow it down and add a much needed ebb and flow to the heaviness. Modern blast beat obsessed Br00tal bands could learn a thing or two. The musical style here moves all across the basic spectrum of Death Metal, featuring thrashy face-rippers like the album opener “Amongst The Marble and The Dead” and the almost pure thrash “Perimortem”; as well as thick, sludgy Doom-like riffs that add to the dark atmosphere. The album is fairly solid throughout but some of my own favourite tracks include “Amongst The Marble and The Dead”, “Winds Of Chains”, “Perimortem” and the Epic finale “Epos”. The spiritual successor to Burial Ground, Endless Procession of Souls is a very capable record from a stalwart band that deserves every success that comes their way.
Swedish Viking death metallers Amon Amarth announced that the band will celebrate its 20th Anniversary with a string of dates in Germany, Poland and Holland. The announcement on the band’s official website reads as followed:
“To celebrate our 20 years anniversary as a band we are going to arrange 5 special shows which will take place this August in Germany, Poland and Holland.
“We will perform 2 full sets with songs from our entire career and there will also be a meet and greet. More details to be announced later.
An evening with…. – the 20th Anniversary Shows are as followed:
Hailing from Sweden come Viking-themed death metallers Havamal. It’s kind of fitting that a band that has Viking themes would name themselves after one of the books in the Poetic Edda but now is not the time to be discussing Old Nordic literature. Formed in 2016, in the city of Stockholm, Call of the North is Havamal‘s first release.
Valkyrian Music 