Strangled

Swedish death metal has always been easily recognisable, due to its very characteristical sound (well, not only Swedish, but Scandinavian, for that matter). Just think of any Scandinavian death metal act from early-mid 90's (Entombed, Amorphis, Unleashed, Xysma, Dismember, Convulse, Konkhra, Desultory... among thousands of bands), any of them would fit in this typical Sunligh Studios sound. One could say It's quite refreshing to listen to a Swedish death metal band from mid-90's who doesn´t sound at all like any of the aforementioned bands. Here the usual and characteristical Sunlight Studios sound almost any Scandinavian death metal band had in that decade is, fortunatelly, nowhere to be heard. Of course, it's not that I don't like that sound; but sometimes it is refreshing (as I already said before) to have something different than the typical sound, which make these bands to stand out of the mainstream, and to be pretty original in comparison to this typical Swedish sound. Their style is clearly American brutal death metal NY/NJ-oriented. Bands like old Internal Bleeding, old Pyrexia, old Suffocation, Dying Fetus, Malamor or Dislocation from Canada came to my mind when I first listened to this Swedish band. The production in this demo is the typical one for a release like this: not over-produced, so it's not a crystal clear production but not a muddy one either, given it is a demo tape; it's clear enough to hear what is going on throughout the whole release. All the instruments are quite balanced and even bass guitar is a bit loud in the final mix (Hallellujah!!).

Regarding bass guitar, apart from being clearly audible, it's pick-played and it reminds me of Canadian brutallers Gorelust, whose bass guitar sounds quite alike. I think louder bass on death metal makes the final result more powerful and brutal. I don't understand why it is usually buried beneath the rest of the instruments on most releases... Guitars sound powerful and quite fast, not very technical riffing though, mostly consisting of simple tremolo riffs, typical death metal progressions, some palm-muting and power chords here and there, making the guitar playing effective in their brutal delivery. There are also some leads and solos not really virtuous but nice though, and no trace of pinch harmonics found, which was also usual at that time.

Vocalist is not too varied but efficient. Mostly deep, quite rough growls and some higher pitched backing screams here and there, in a Deicide way like screaming demons. I haven't found the lyrics anywhere, but with song titles like Strangled, Extinction or Doom's Day and their MA page saying Horror, death, gore as their lyrical themes, one can easily imagine what they talk about.

Drums are not the most original on Earth, but they have a point. There is an overall mid to fast pace on every track with some slower sections and occasional faster bursts. Although this is a demo, drum sound is quite balanced and it doesn't cover any of the other instruments. If any, maybe toms are a little low in the mix, and some rolls sound a bit weak under the rest. Nothing awful anyway.

In conclusion, this was a pretty original band for the country they were from during those years, and it's really a pity they split up, they could have released some memorable, outstanding and original records in a country where almost everyone else sounded pretty much the same as Entombed.