Abysmal Grief

Hell, I can’t imagine someone, who’s into the old Swedish death metal scene not knowing and adoring Goddefied. Sure, the band didn’t have a big impact on the scene, mainly due to the fact that their debut MLP has been released in 1993, when the scene was already well developed and the best bands have had several albums recorded and with many similar bands Goddefied could have been called nothing more, but yet another similar kind of band. But it’s the quality of their only release from the 90’s, which is for their advantage and thus I can say that this band stands in the same league as the other legends like Gorement, God Macabre, Epitaph, Excruciate or Nirvana 2002.

Lack of originality may be the only real problem some of you will have when listening to “Abysmal Grief”. I’ve actually heard many opinions that this band is decent, but too much they remind Entombed and so they’re not good enough. Phhuuufff, what a bullshit. Yes, they do remind me the likes of Nirvana 2002, Desultory and especially Entombed also and I mean “Crawl” EP and “Clandestine” LP, with very similar production, riffing and basically everything, including the vocals, which are close to those from “Crawl” EP (where Orvar Säfström sang). In few cases, like in “Left to Die” and “Inhumation of Shreds” it almost comes as close as a déjà vu feeling (in this case I though it’s “But Life Goes On” for a second he, he) but all those resemblances don’t mean Goddefied is useless. No, I still think that despite that “Abysmal Grief” is just great. I like the riffing here a lot, with this classic blend of melody and aggression, with many hooks and great potential for headbanging. I love the songs, they’re Swedish death metal taken to perfection and finally I love this classic Sunlight production.

Six songs in total and well, I can’t imagine someone, who’s into Entombed and other bands I mentioned not to like this. Unfortunately Goddefied never went anywhere further with this recording and soon after its release they’ve split up, but the more cult such recordings become then. You may need some luck if you wanna buy it though, as the original CD pressing is hard to get and just bloody expensive, while the 10” vinyl version from Blood Harvest (which I listen to now and which sounds brilliant, although the whole release lacks the lyrics and anything else, which other labels like The Crypt do to make their vinyl releases so bloody cherished) is also sold out long time ago, but if you’re ever going to spot a copy somewhere, get it! Sell your kidney, sell your mom, but buy it, as this is awesome recording, with the quality equal to Entombed.
Final rate: 85/100 (I do take some points off for the too obvious resemblances to Entombed; otherwise it would probably be 95!)