Orvar Säfström's (Nirvana 2002) Top 5...Uh, 6 Swedish Death Metal Albums

Posted October 14 by Chris D.

By Orvar Säfström (Nirvana 2002)

Let me first state that early Bathory and late At the Gates are not on this list for one simple reason, and that’s because I don’t think they quite fit the Swedish death metal genre definition. It would be kind of like listing Motorhead’s Overkill as one of the greatest thrash albums of all time. Sure, it’s a fucking classic but just doesn’t fit the bill.

I’ve also cut out the excellent German 3-disc compilation paired with Daniel Ekroth’s Swedish Death Metal as I wanted this to be a straight list of band albums.

Oh...and the list is six albums, not five...I just couldn’t help myself.

6. Death Breath – Stinking up the Night
(2006)
Oh, sweet Death Breath. Once again, so many people just don’t seem to get it. There’s no such thing as ”old-school” death metal. Why? Because the static blastbeat, guitar masturbation, cookie monster growl junk that people call modern death metal just isn’t death metal to begin with. This is the real shit, love it or leave it. Extra kudos goes out to Scott Carlson for being the coolest guy in death metal. Period.

5. Murder Squad – Ravenous, Murderous
(2003)
Easily the most underestimated band in the Swedish scene, this collaboration of members from Entombed and Dismember was just a little too damn garage rock dirty for both the Cannibal Corpse kids and the 7-string elitists to grasp. Sure, they sounded just like early Autopsy (and this album does feature Chris Reifert on several tracks), but I fail to see how that could ever be a bad thing. We actually offered Maryland Deathfest a first and only true Nirvana 2002 reunion concert (yes, with Erik on drums) for next year just to be able to see Autopsy play, but nothing came of it.

4. Grotesque – In the Embrace of Evil
(1996)
OK, kind of a cheat here with a compilation album. There’s something truly magical about Grotesque, fusing Swedish death metal with early Morbid Angel, Celtic Frost and black metal. Just like CF before them, Grotesque always wrote material that was way more advanced than they could actually play. I really admire that. You always got the feeling that they refused to accept their boundaries, whether it be musically or conceptually. Gotta love that cover too.

3. Merciless – The Awakening
(1990)
Take two parts Sadus paired with one part German thrash attack, add nitrous oxide or amphetamine for extra speed and you’ve got an album that’s still as furious as it was when released in 1990. Erik, Karlén, Rogga and Stipen were just four kids with an extraordinary talent for fast-paced death metal and believe me, they were twice as fast live.

2. Dismember – Like an Ever Flowing Stream
(1991)
Putting on the vinyl of LAEFS is like getting maced in the face. Dismember may have settled into a comfort zone of standard fare death metal records over the years, but I challenge anyone anywhere to ever produce an album of such skull-crushing intensity again. This is the yard stick right here. You think you’re hot shit? Come back when you’ve eclipsed “Override the Overture” or “Dismembered”.

1. Entombed – Left Hand Path
(1990)
This is the holy grail of Swedish Death Metal. It didn’t introduce the genre defining guitar sound, L.G. Petrov’s insane vocals, Uffe Cederlund’s brilliant guitar playing or the out-of-this-world song writing skills (and drumming) of Nicke Andersson. That was all in the demos. But everything just came together on LHP like nowhere else. It sent a shock wave through the entire scene and “Drowned” floors me just as much today as it did 20 years ago.

** Nirvana 2002's Recordings 89-91 comes out November 10th on Relapse Records. Order it here. Now!

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