Necrony - Pathological Performances (1993)

It's one of the best death/grind albums ever, clever songwriting, awesome use of jazz guitar soloing to spice things up, and if it weren't for the flute, I don't think this would have been so morbid.

I probably make it sound so avant-garde or whatever, but it's really just old school grinding death metal that keeps it fresh and interesting throughout the album. So, yeah, most of you have probably heard this, but those of you who haven't, stop procrastinating.

Megaupload.

MediaFIREEEEE.

Internal Decay - A Forgotten Dream (1993)

Melodic death/doom somewhere between At the Gates (pre-Slaughter) and Phlebotomized, with a haunting atmosphere and some very tasty riffs. You'll catch glimpses of female vocals near the end of the record, and snippets of keyboards are interspersed throughout, but for the most part they manage to pull off the gloominess with traditional metal instrumentation. Songs make the transition from borderline thrash to full-out downtempo doom fairly smoothly, and come right back to hook you in further. Overall this is one hell of a record, and surprisingly under-appreciated.

Mediafire

Gösta Berlings Saga - Detta Har Hänt (2009)

Genre: Instrumental Progressive Rock
Country of Origin: Sweden

Carrying a tradition on is sometimes not an easy task. And when prog rock fell into a lull sometime in the 1980s, the odds did not appear to be in its favor. Several groups kept the flame burning, and some lights shone brighter than others. Gösta Berlings Saga is one of those beacons. Pushing the envelope on technicality, while staying true to the eerie, almost dirty sound of their predecessors.

Along with the technicality, there is emotion behind the keys, guitars, bass and drums; working together, even if they are in separate time signatures at times. True musicianship throughout.

Kaamos - Lvcifer Rising (2005)

A little gem out of Sweden that far too few people have heard, as far as I'm concerned. Kaamos play OSDM with style, crafting plenty of twisted riffs in a similar fashion to the master Trey Azagthoth, while still keeping songs refined enough to drive straight through hell and back without slowing down. Quite a bit stronger than their debut, and unfortunately the last thing the band ever did before they split in 2007, this is one of the few sleepers in my collection, and it's a damn good one at that.

Again, this is a case where I can provide a FLAC rip, so just ask away if you want me to upload.

For now: Mediafire

Wolfbrigade - Prey to the World (2007)

I'm not too familiar with Crust Punk, but this is by far my favourite release out of what I've heard. What more can I say besides the fact that it's a fuckin' riff-monster? Check it out now, if you're a fan or at all interested in the genre.

Mediafire

Putrevore - Morphed From Deadbreath (2008)

Jesus Christ, wanna talk about heavy? One of the more pleasant surprises I've come across recently, Putrevore make their own brand of sludgy, brutal (not the genre) death metal that is reminiscent, strangely, of the more recent Denial, except with a much more prominent bass sound. It doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it does smash it to pieces and burn the remains rather efficiently.

Mediafire

Leukemia - Love [advance promo] (1997)

Genre - Death Metal, Melodic Death Metal

Now, as I both have not listened to this album nearly enough to justify a full review, and am not in a particular mood to write one, I will but give a brief rundown of this release for fans. "Love" is/was slated to be Swedish Death Metal band Leukemia's third release. It was mastered in the mid 90's by Dan Swanö at Unisound Studios, but even after over ten years, a name change, and a reawakening of the band, has yet to see the light of day in the form of a proper release. Some time ago it was let known by the band that they intend to finally bring it to the masses sometime in 2008. As the year closed, it was pushed to 2009. Why? I don't know. The band is obscure as all hell.

Anyway, I ran across this interesting tape-rip of what I think is a '97 "advance-promo" of the album a day or so ago, and knowing that there are still some fans in the death metal underground who would care to give this a listen, I thought I'd post it.

The sound, as I had expected, is more melodic than their previous releases, and Dan Swanö himself pops in more than a few times to give his help in the form of his awesome growl or powerful baritone, possibly a key section or two too.

Now, I don't know if this is the same form this album will be released as this year (if it's released at all), but this is all we have for now.

Give it a shot-

Mediafire

Jerusalem - Jerusalem (1972)

Child of the 70's, this is the first (and only) album from the british band Jerusalem. It's a traditional doom metal/hard rock band, kinda like Black Sabbath, Hendrix and Led Zeppelin that deserves some goddamn recognition for being truly awesome and kick-ass. If rockin' basslines, heavy riffs, steady drumming, balls-out shredding, acid trips and acting like you're a know-it-all artists that feels the love of the world in a cynical society are your thing, then don't skip this. For 1972, it's quite heavy and a slight bit prog rock-ish, unlike the more straightforward approach of Pentagram's debut (even though that's not from the 70's, just sayin'), but still catchy as fuck. Try not to sing along to "Primitive Man" or the all-out rockin' masterpiece that is "She Came Like A Bat From Hell" (which is also their best song).
Some quotes regarding the band:
"They gigged throughout Europe and shared the same stage as bands such as Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Uriah Heep and Status Quo"
"It has often been stated within the music business that Jerusalem were a substantial influence on many of the 2nd generation Rock "metal" bands and Punk bands of the 80's"

Download

-Radu

Nirvana 2002 (swe) - Disembodied Spirits (1990)

Genre - Old School Death Metal
Ratings - 97/100
Reviews -
Nirvana 2002 is another one of the forgotten Swedish death metal legend that one often overlooks while talking about old school death metal scene. For some unforeseen reasons the band could never come up with an entire full length but before quitting they left us with few songs of such skull crushing brutality that were set to become a cult in the underground death metal scene. In 1988, Eric and Orvar came together and decided to form a band. They came up with ideas and ended up releasing a few demo tapes. Few of them like Truth and Beauty and Excursions in 2002 became very famous among the underground fans. Both of them were independently released and hence the production was arguably poor but one could not overlook the musical talents of these maniacs and the labels started to take interests in them. Consequently one of their tracks appeared on the famous split consisting of Appendix, Authorize and Fallen Angel and Nirvana 2002 themselves. Finally they got to release their most famous work Disembodied Spirits under CBR records.

I firmly believe that this is the best EP I have ever heard in metal let alone death metal. Everything is just about perfect on the three tracks on this EP.There are no fillers, no cheesy moments, everything is just class.

The EP begins with the song Slumber which kicks off with a muddy chaotic riff followed by a solo only to make way for inhuman growls of Orvar Safstrom who goes like :

"Guilty
The seal has been broken the last door is shut
Ashes
Whirling in the slumbering dephts
A pale gleaming
The last lantern in the darkness to come
Rising from the veils of slumber
To reap the dark souls and bring blessing to some."

That sure turns out to be a blessing for the listener. Orvar may not be one of the best in the busines as far as death metal vcals are concerned, he may not be gifted with satan like voice box to be throwing evil growls like Jimmy Karlsson or Greg Chandler but he manages to create a brutal atmosphere with his vocals. He uses his inhaled breath sounds on mike to perfection. The best example can be seen on the song The Awakening Of... when he screams "Time To Die". That is certainly my favorite moment on the entire EP. Slumber is full of riffs after riffs and invaded by a few solos in between, that come as a pleasant surprise, with drum rolls and blastbeats thrown aptly at places. This song is orgasmic. The Zombieification and The Awakening of arent without great moments too. The drum intro of Zombieifiecation, solos on The Awakenings of.. are perfect examples of that. No matter how much I praise Orvar and Lars on guitars and drums, I still wouldn't be doing them justice. The excellent use and perfect timing of drum rolls on toms, drum fills on high-hats and cymbals and blastbeats just make him stand apart from the usual blastbeat predominant drummers of early 90s Scandinavian death metal bands.

Apart from the near flawless metal assault of these stalwarts, the production value is another one of the reasons why I chose this EP over any other. The guitar sound is well produced and never sounds buried under the sound of the bass drum which is often one of the frequently encountered problems with demos and EPs of early 90s death metal bands otherwise. The production of drums is phenomenal too. The snareshots pound directly on your ears and the bass drums are just loud enough to be heard clearly. The bass guitar does sound a bit subdued compared to the the others but I guess you wouldnt mind that.

Before you start to wonder "Why not a perfect 100 despite such mouthful of praise?" Well may be because the EP seems too short to me and the bass guitar production could have been better.

Oh, and by the way, I have not had the pleasure to own anything original by the band. There were news in 2007 that the band might start working again together when they played live for the last time in a gig. There have been talks of the release of their entire material as a compilation. I for one sure if going to buy because that will be like a diamond in my collection. So, watch out !!
JUST FUCKIN BUY THIS whenever its released as compilation.

Download (Mediafire)