Dusk for Convenience

“Dusk for Convenience” presents some savage death metal from a Swedish band that (seemingly) existed outside of that country’s vibrant death metal scene. This band are not listed in the back of Daniel Ekeroth's Swedish death metal book (unless they were added in a later edition). This might be because Apostle were closer aligned with the hardcore scene than the metal scene. This album came out on Abstraction Communications, a UK-based hardcore label with a strong animal rights agenda. The lyrics and ethos on this record are ‘vegan straightedge’. Still, this is not a metalcore record in any sense of the world. There are no hardcore elements at all. It makes me wonder what kind of shows Apostle played, hardcore all-dayers or death metal shows, perhaps both?

Musically, Apostle played death metal that was closer to the American style than the Swedish one. There are nods to Suffocation, Deicide and various others. There is plenty of blasting, but it doesn't dominate. There are slower tracks ("Code Red"), and some black metal marches (i.e., the latter half of "The Final Regret"). Most of the album is played at a comfortable three-quarter paced tempo, playing super-heavy riffs that bring Vader or Krisiun to mind. The best comparison might be Seance, another Swedish band that could slip through the gears with ease. Notably, this was recorded at the same place as the first Seance album (Berno Studio). The sound quality is similarly awesome, with full-bodied guitar and natural sounding drums.

Most of the songs are strong. There are many recycled Deicide and Morbid Angel riffs, but Apostle executed them well and avoided sounding too similar to their idols. There are a few Immolation-style pinch harmonics too (e.g., towards the end of "Crestfallen"), and plenty of those juggernaut-style rolling riffs and tremolo picking. The best song is "Entangled in Disgust". This one has everything. It begins with a crushing triplet opening that sounds better than anything Deicide were doing at the time. There is a surprising section of clean guitar in the middle, before the band ascend into a manic solo/finale. This final section shows how good these guys were as musicians.

This album is near the top of the class for death metal in 1999. The animal rights messaging is refreshing in a 'brutal' genre that has a reputation for cartoonish stupidity. Fans of Krisiun, Abhorrence (Brazil), and Deicide will love this album when they discover it. Sure, there are a couple of weaker moments, mainly on "Carnage Generation" with its ill-fitting spoken word chorus and extended sample from "The Prophecy" (a cliche if ever there was). "Dusk for Convenience" may not be in the same league as classics like "Fornever Laid to Rest", but gets closer than anyone could expect for such an unknown band.