Old School Swedish Death Metal From Old Swedes
To many of us, 1990s death metal was special. It was new, experimental, and violent. You felt like you were into something exclusive and unique. Enter Swedish death metal. Bands like Entombed, Dismember and Tiamat with their chunky, chainsaw guitar tones [Boss HM-2], riffs that were palm muted, but not afraid to be catchy, pounding drums with mid-paced double bass, and vocals that are scratchy and deep. The Grifted feel like they are lifted right from that era of death metal because, they were!
Not New Wave Of Swedish Death Metal
Why do I say this? Simple. These guys were doing this stuff when it started. Formally called Mr. Death, The Grifted are made up of two founding members of Tiamat, in Juck Thullberg [bass] and Stefan Lagergren [guitar]. Also included are Jonas Ohlsson on drums, formerly of Septic Grave, Staffan Skoglund [guitar] from Ethnocide, and vocalist Jocke Lindström from the grindcore band Child. An impressive résumé. I love their band photos!
The Good
The Grifted have nailed the Swedish death metal sound. Chunky, catchy riffs, blasting drums, blood inducing death growls. The solos are not fancy, but fit the music perfectly. A few screechy bends and back to the riffs that are heavy as fuck. The tempos do speed up and slow down. The songs do feel like they stand on their own, and the band keeps the album flowing. Do you like albums like Left Hand Path, Indecent and Obscene, and Sumerian City? Well, this is for you. The improvement over some of those albums is how great the riffs cut through in the production. The vocals are gruff, and at times hit some cool higher notes, while being sure to stay away from clean.
The Bad
The only bad I can think of is how the vocals are recorded. I am not a musician, and know little about music production, aside from what I have learned while editing videos on our YouTube channel, but they feel a bit too compressed. They sit in this thin range, and sound similar to someone calling you through an old landline. Maybe this is done so the vocals don’t enter the range of the instruments, but it still bugs me. Death metal vocalists don’t need a big range, but some dynamics is nice.
Conclusion
This album is absolutely relentless. The barking vocals blend well with the chainsaw riffs, and pounding drums and thunderous bass scratches that 90s death metal itch. It doesn’t feel forced. It sure doesn’t feel like a younger band playing that style. This album has plenty of variety without sounding prog. Make no mistake, this is Swedish death metal! I give this a 4/5 rating.
| Band: The Grifted |
| Album: Doomsday & Salvation |
| Date: April 7, 2023 [pre-order] |
| Personal Records |
Be sure to check out my review of Spirit Possession, and our interview of Gaerea.