Consumed by Darkness

Macabre End were a great Swedish death metal band from the long tradition of great Swedish death metal bands. They never achieved the status of Grave or Unleashed (let alone Entombed or Dismember). They shone briefly, becoming (slightly) better known after changing their name to God Macabre and releasing an excellent LP, "The Winterlong". The Macabre End style of death metal was distinct from the God Macabre style though. This earlier incarnation sounded even darker and the musicianship was cruder. Anyone who likes Scandinavian death metal should get acquainted with "Consumed by Darkness".

I say 'Scandinavian' rather than 'Swedish' because my best comparisons are with two Finnish bands; Convulse and Amorphis. Together, these three bands were doing similar stuff at around the same time, though Macabre End recorded first (releasing this as a demo in 1990). Consider the bludgeoning, chunky riffs, deep guitar tone and extra-deep vocals (very similar to "World Without God"). Then add the meticulous, purposeful leads and creepiness that Amorphis would perfect on "The Karelian Isthmus". Macabre End were fantastic death metal craftsmen and use these simple ingredients well. You can hear the basis of what would become "The Winterlong" but it also sounds like a different band.

There are three songs, seemingly sequenced in ascending order of length and complexity. The title track is little more than a glorified intro with some vocals. The slowly ascending melodic staircase gives you a glimpse into the band's world, but little more. I wish this one had been developed into a proper song because it has so much potential. "Cease to Be" is the most typically Swedish of the songs, particularly with the simple 2-beat drumming. There is a bit of blasting too, but it is tastefully done so you'll barely notice it. They slip into a sinister melodic break towards the end of the song to round it off. It sounds like a darker version of what their contemporaries Nirvana 2002 and Dismember were doing. Again, at under three minutes it would have been even better if they had developed that melody further.

The final song is "Spawn of Flesh", by far the best and most memorable of the three. This one would later appear on "The Winterlong", but this earlier version has a life of its own. I prefer the bass drum sound here to that on the album, where it was a bit loud and obnoxious. The keyboards (which I believe only appear on the remixed EP version from 1991) improve the atmosphere and overall spookiness no end. Again, the song plays simple, repeated melodies to draw the listener in. The other noticeable difference between this and the God Macabre version is the soloing. The solos are much more basic here. Lead guitarist Jonas Stålhammar must have gone away and practiced hard between recording this and "The Winterlong", because the soloing on that LP is far more elaborate.

The production is lovely. The guitar tone has the warm Studio Sunlight crunch. Every other instrument is subtle, perhaps under-processed. Nothing clamours for attention and it blends together seamlessly. This sound suits Macabre End because of their focus on gloom and atmospherics. All this makes "Consumed by Darkness" one of the more interesting old school death metal obscurities, enough to give many better-known bands a bloody nose. Is it better than "The Winterlong"? That depends on which way the wind is blowing. This is more satisfying if you want to descend into the netherworld. The LP is better if you want robust, melodic old school death metal with great solos. I dare say this would have been definitive if a smidgen more time had been spent developing the first two songs. Still, it is better to have too little than too much.