Upon the untimely passing of Entombed frontman L-G Petrov, I can’t help but reflect upon Swedish death metal as a whole. There’s probably nothing this week’s Top 10 will do to shine new light upon this storied scene. Hell, there’s been entire books written about it. That said, it’s important we continue to revisit these styles and scenes as they are the bedrock for all the metal we take for granted today. So without further ado, here are my Top 10 Swedish Death Metal Albums. “Rest in festering slime”
10. Bloodbath – Nightmares Made Flesh (2004)
By the time Bloodbath released their second album, Nightmares Made Flesh, the supergroup’s individual members had deviated pretty far from the style that made them famous with their main bands. Peter Tägtgren was playing sci-fi themed melo death with Hypocrisy. Anders Nyström and Jonas Renske went full blown gloomy alt rock with Katatonia. And the enigma known as Dan Swanö was likely keeping busy with something that sounded in the vein of Rush. Together with future Opeth drummer Martin Axenrot, they took it back to the good ol’ days of ruthless riffs and bludgeoning brutality on Nightmares Made Flesh. Its since become a modern death metal classic and the defining album of their career. Who hasn’t blasted “Eaten” at least once in their lifetime?
9. Carnage – Dark Recollections (1990)
When I make these Top 10 lists, I try to limit them to one entry per band. Because if we were going off my personal bias, four of these entries would be the first four At the Gates albums. However, I must admit there’s a slight caveat with this entry. Carnage is essentially just Dismember with future Carcass and Arch Enemy guitarist Michael Amott shredding away. They’re included on here because a. They’re technically under a different moniker and b. Dark Recollections rules. For nearly 40 minutes, d-beats run amuck while a barrage of possessed riffs lead us to the underworld. Little did the Dismember boys know they’d upstage themselves a year later. More on that in a bit.
8. Edge of Sanity – Purgatory Afterglow (1994)
The year was 1994 and death metal was growing up. Chuck Schuldiner had all but abandoned his title as “the godfather of death metal”, opting for Allan Holdsworth style solos over corpseripping riffs. Meanwhile, Death offshoot Cynic released the groundbreaking Focus (1993) which blurred the boundaries between progressive rock and death metal. It was only a matter of time before the Swedes responded to their American counterparts. Enter Dan Swanö and Edge of Sanity. Predating Opeth’s debut album by a year, Purgatory Afterglow was a musical revelation. The inclusion of melodic guitar lines and *gasp* clean vocals was unthinkable just a few years earlier. Swanö broke down barriers not just for his own scene, but for death metal worldwide.
7. Repugnant – Epitome of Darkness (2006)
Before becoming arena rock’s unlikeliest superstar as Papa Emeritus I-IV (and Cardinal Copia), Tobias Forge made filthy, putrid, and downright repugnant death metal as Mary Goore in…Repugnant. Their first and only album, Epitome of Darkness, was recorded in 2002, but wouldn’t see the light of day in 2006. While the band was broken up at this time, I almost feel this was for the better. The 2000s in general were not a good time for death metal. Bands placed brutality above originality, resulting in an endless crop of Cannibal Corpse clones. Repugnant on the other hand combined the rotting rage of their Swedish forefathers with the thrashing madness of 80s pioneers like Slayer and Possessed. If suburban America’s 16 year old girls ever grow tired of Ghost, at least Tobias Forge will have his “old band” to fall back upon.
6. Grave – Into the Grave (1991)
Of all the albums on this list, Grave’s Into the Grave draws the closest similarity to the American death metal scene of the time. With cuts like “Deformed”, “Hating Life”, and the legendary title track, they really gave Morbid Angel and Deicide a run for their money when it came to vying for title of “Satan’s house band”. Would you believe this is one of the few classic Swedish death metal albums to NOT feature the infamous HM-2 pedal? Turns out Ola Lindgren and Jörgen Sandström achieved their sinister sound by maxing out DS-1 pedal. The more you know!
5. Dismember – Like an Everflowing Stream (1991)
After recording an album under the Carnage moniker, drummer Fred Etsby, guitarist David Blomqvist, and singer Matti Kärki decided to resurrect their old band, Dismember. If they could do it with one band, surely they could do it with another. The end result was Like an Everflowing Stream: their first and finest album. The music contained within this album is as infernal as the hellscape depicted on its front cover. If Entombed’s Left Hand Path established the Swedish death metal formula a year earlier, Like an Everflowing Stream doubled down on it.
4. Opeth – Orchid (1995)
One year after Edge of Sanity tested the boundaries of what Swedish death metal was and could be, Opeth took it a step further with their debut album, Orchid. Whereas Purgatory Afterglow can be described as a death metal album with progressive elements, Orchid is practically a progressive rock album with extreme metal elements. This begs some questions: Was Opeth ever a death metal band and do they belong on this list? The answers are yes and yes. Opeth formed and came of age in the same scene as their death metal peers. Sure Mikael Åkerfeldt was taking more from the gospels of Yes and Genesis than Death and Morbid Angel, but that doesn’t dilute Orchid‘s death metal cred. His vocals alone are some of the greatest in death metal history. Add those to a backdrop of melodic riffs that bounce between black and death metal, acoustic guitar interludes, and everchanging musical passageways, and you’ve got one of the most unique albums not just in death metal, but in metal altogether.
3. At the Gates – The Red in the Sky is Ours (1992)
Before singlehandedly setting the template for every melodic death metal and metalcore band of the last quarter century, At the Gates were five kids finding their identity. If Dismember and Entombed were the soundtrack to hell, At the Gates was the soundtrack to the journey downwards. Everything from the riffs to the vocals are frantic and vitriolic. We do hear those occasional Priest/Maiden inspired leads from guitarists Alf Svensson and Anders Björler, though they’re not nearly as pronounced as they would be on subsequent releases. The Red in the Sky is Ours is the sound of a young and savage band hellbent on the sole purpose of creating musical chaos.
2. Merciless – The Awakening (1990)
Merciless’ inclusion on this list may be a controversial one. Why? Because I know it’s only a matter of time before one of you nerds comments something like, “Merciless was more thrash metal than death metal.” That said, it’s my site, my list, and I make the rules. Yes, The Awakening is thrashy as all hell, but so were many bands and albums of this era. There was Protector, Num Skull, Sepultura, Messiah…I could go on. Lest we forget that death metal was born as a violent strain of thrash metal. The Awakening rides the line between death and thrash so sweetly and perfectly. It should also be noted that Merciless was perhaps the only death metal band to win the approval of Euronymous, who made The Awakening the debut release on his record label, Deathlike Silence Productions.
- Entombed – Left Hand Path (1990)
Swedish death metal wasn’t born in 1990. Many of the bands on this list were releasing demos throughout the late 80s. But the sound and scene didn’t become set in stone until the release of this here album: Entombed’s Left Hand Path. What Scream Bloody Gore did for US death metal, Left Hand Path did for Swedish death metal. It set the bar so high that no band, not even Entombed themselves, has been able to reach it since. Upon first listen, one would think the gruesome guitar tone was produced by a direct input jack into hell’s speaker system, not an oft abused HM-2 pedal. Drummer Nicke Andersson blasts away as if his life depended on it. Topping it all off are the diabolical growls of the late L-G Petrov. They may not have been the most guttural or extreme vocals, but they were more convincing than just about anyone else in Sweden at that time. Its been 31 years since Left Hand Path was released. In another 31 years, we’ll still be talking about it. Somewhere right now, some kid is about to try an HM-2 pedal for the first time. He’ll churn out those buzzsaw riffs until those riffs buzzsaw him in half. And it’s all thanks to Left Hand Path.
Honorable Mentions
- Dan Swanö – Moontower (1999)
- Desultory – Into Eternity (1993)
- God Macabre – The Winterlong… (1993)
- Seance – Forever Laid to Rest (1992)
- Vomitory – Raped in Their Own Blood (1996)