A couple new videos came out today from one of my favorite sub genres: Swedish Melodic Death Metal. OK, that sounds pretty odd, right? For the uninitiated, Swedish Melodic Death Metal may sound like an oxymoron. That’s OK, it’s certainly not for everyone. For me, however, it’s such a part of my soundtrack that I have a tattoo of the Swedish flag made out of metal on my right arm.
A brief history: it’s hard to say who the first Swedish Melodic Death Metal (I’ll call it SMDM for short) band was. Instead, I’ll talk about what it means and who the most famous bands are and then you can check out a couple new videos. And if you like it, I’ll post a couple others that can be checked out as well.
SMDM of course comes from the Death Metal genre. This is a more extreme form of thrash metal (think Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer, Megadeth, etc.) that involves faster, more aggressive and technical musicianship and growled, grunted, or screamed vocals. It often melds elements of the Hardcore Punk genre as well. A few classic DM bands are Death (arguably the originators of the genre), Obituary, Carcass, Cannibal Corpse, Deicide, and Pestilence.
Meanwhile Stockholm, Sweden contributed one of DM’s favorite sons, Entombed. But in Gothenburg, Sweden a few bands decided that DM was not melodic enough. They first added melodic guitar parts behind the thrashy riffs and growled vocals. It was not an easy sell at first, because the fans of DM were very elitist. “It’s gotta be brutal, man! Melody is for Iron Maiden,” was the cry of many a DM fanatic. But, like all genres, the DM scene soon became pretty stale with a million Obituary and Deicide wannabes and fans started looking to the European scene to bring their fresh spin.
In 1995, Gothenburg’s At the Gates released the crown jewel of the SMDM scene, Slaughter of the Soul. 34 minutes and 8 seconds of melodic, thrashy perfection, the album has spawned so many imitators today, you would think it’s much newer than it actually is.
At the Gates did something genius (or possibly necessary) about a year after the critically and fan acclaimed Slaughter of the Soul created a new scene: they broke up. This solidified their legend in unimaginable ways. Kind of like when Obi Wan Kenobi allows Darth Vader to strike him down and he becomes “more powerful than you can possibly imagine.” ATG did that, too. The other members pursued bands like the Haunted, the Crown, Nightrage, Disfear, and many others until finally reuniting in 2007 for a tour so successful, they decided to continue the band simultaneously with their current acts.
2014’s At War with Reality was a fairly worthy successor to Slaughter of the Soul. Of course, it had a very dubious task in that it was following up such a legendary release, but it was up to the task. The band continued to tour, but in March 2017 they were dealt what seemed a crushing blow when founding lead guitarist Anders Bjorler announced his departure from the band. Having been a major part of the songwriting team (along with his twin brother bassist Jonas and vocalist Tomas Lindberg), many felt the band was doomed without Anders.
Today, they released the video for their new single and the title track of their upcoming new album, To Drink from the Night Itself. I’ve listened to it at least ten times already today and here’s my thoughts:
It sounds like classic ATG. Lindberg’s vocals are just as sick (that’s a compliment in DM) as ever and his lyrics poetic as usual. Adrian Erlandsson’s drumming is on-point. Homeboy even gets a little drum solo! But the concern was what would the guitars sound like – have no fear. New guitarist Jonas Stalhammar (what a cool name!) combines his skills with longtime guitarist Martin Larsson to create a swirling symphony of classic ATG guitar. The melodic parts are there, the chunky palm-muting, the double-picking, and a nice picked clean part that rides on top of the verses and choruses. The only missing element would be a guitar solo. Of course, not every ATG song needs a solo with all the previously mentioned melodic guitar parts, so we’ll have to listen for other tracks coming up and see if Mr. Stalhammar gives us any shred. Fun fact: Stalhammar previously sang for The Crown on their 2010 album Doomsday King. ATG vocalist Lindberg also shares the distinction of having sang for The Crown on an album, in his case 2002’s Crowned in Terror.
Check out the video for To Drink from the Night Itself below. The album is out May 18th.
The second video that came out today is from Engel. These guys are a newer band, having formed in 2005, but they have members of a couple of classic DM bands in their ranks. Guitarist Marcus Sunesson was with The Crown for most of their early career and guitarist and current “musical director” Niklas Engelin has been in and around the In Flames camp since 1997, becoming a full time member in 2011. In Flames are one of the most famous SMDM bands and his involvement in the group has led to Engelin continuing to write and record with Engel, but he rarely performs with them.
Engel have always incorporated elements of industrial (sometimes to their detriment) and alternative rock to their sound and their focus is on both melodic guitars and vocals. Current frontman Mikael Sehlin has one of the better voices and bigger ranges in the SMDM genre, at times bringing to mind Soilwork’s Bjorn “Speed” Strid.
Engel’s new single, “The Condemned” does away with most of the industrial elements and focuses on melodic guitars, speed, and soaring melodic vocals in the chorus. Sehlin alternates between the typical growled vocals in the verses and melodic vocals in the chorus that are the trademark of every SMDM band since In Flames and Soilwork dominated the genre in the late 90’s/early 2000’s. But just when you think Sehlin’s voice can’t go any higher, the chorus can’t get any bigger, it does! This guy almost sounds out of place in an SMDM band and like he should be in a power metal band like Hammerfall. In fact, the high speed double bass melodic chorus brings that genre to mind. But Engel is definitely showcasing his strengths in this track.
“The Condemned” is from Engel‘s new album Abandon All Hope, dropping on May 11th. Check out the video below.
And if SMDM appeals to you or you want to check out some more of the bands, here’s a couple videos to get you on your way:
Ramblings of a Retired Rockstar 