STERBHAUS – New Level of Malevolence (CD)

Most of you know I’m not a big fan of death metal, but there’s one band that I just fucking LOVE!! Ever since I saw the video for The House Of The Dead Dwarf, which proved the level of self-distance and humor this band possesses, I just love their quirky boundary-less technical and quirky, yet quite melodic death metal. Their previous album, Angels For Breakfast… And God For Lunch really rocked my world for a long time. So, I’m happy to say that with the follow-up New Level of Malevolence, they have even stepped it up. This is bloody outstanding! I even have a soft spot for Marcus Hammarström’s evil sounding, screechy, but not painful vocals, which actually fits the music perfectly. I don’t think you’re supposed to fell happy when listening to death metal, but I have a smile on my face every time I listen to this band. The album is full of little surprises which just throw you off in all directions without warning, and I love that. Predictable? No way in hell! There are traces of classic heavy metal, death metal, thrash, prog metal, doom, polka and… you name it, and that is just in the title track alone! There’s actually one band that sometimes comes to mind, and which I also love, and that’s F.K.Ü. They both have the same level of intensity and power. Also, tell me the last time you heard neck pick-up Stratocaster being played in a thrash/death tune? This is a new level of excellence!

Janne Stark

Year: 2015

Country: Sweden

Label: Killhead

Link: www.sterbhaus.com

STERBHAUS - Angels For Breakfast... And God For Lunch (CD)

The title alone made me interested in this album. Cocky! The debut album by Swedish death merchants Sterbhaus, Hits For Dead Kids, was pretty cool, but for some reason failed to catch my attention. I did however love the video for House Of The Dead Dwarf. After having listened to Angels For Breakfast… God For Lunch three times non-stop, I definitely feel this is quite captivating. Sterbhaus successfully balances on the fence between thrash, death and progressive metal. Catchy, fast and brutal yet full of technical brilliance, great musicianship and lots of cool twists and turns. These guys are not afraid of thinking outside the box and stretching the boundaries, which they show in one of my favourites, the high-speed thrasher Frogboiler, which reminds me a bit of F.K.Ü. Here they suddenly throw in a short piece of country out of the blue. Some tracks, like Deathwizz, are just crammed with cool riffs, carefully knit together into a fully comprehensive musical weave, a big thrashy plaid. Here they also throw in a surprisingly clean funk interplay. Insane, but fucking brilliant! Marcus’ vocals are also more in the thrashy vein and not of the growly death sort, which fits my taste better. The killer production by Jonas Kjellgren is just the icing on the cake. A bloody brilliant album that definitely should attract fans of classic US thrash as well as melodic and technical death metal.
Janne Stark
Country: Sweden
Year: 2012
Label: Killhead
Link: www.sterbhaus.com

BULLETSIZE – The Apokalypse (CD)

Swedish metallurgists Bulletsize bring the apocalypse. Musically that is. The Apocalypse is quite a mixed bag of styles, forging death metal and thrash with quite technical overtones. The opening title track really brings the hammer down. Second track Out Of Silence however feels a bit messy. It could be the production, but at times it almost feels a bit untight. This is something I hear here and there in other tracks as well. It’s powerful and it’s heavy, still they mix in nice touches of more melodic and classic metal. With so many great death metal bands out there it’s quite hard to reach above the noise. Bulletsize have a couple of things going for them, with one being the musical mix and there are some pretty good songs on the album. The vocals are within the traditional death metal growl formula and the energy sure is there. On the downside the sound could be a bit tighter and I’m not really into some of the guitar solos which are slightly below par, like the end part of Eyes Of The Blind, while others are quite good. All in all a pretty decent release if you’re into death metal.
Janne Stark
Country: Sweden
Year: 2011
Label: Happy Minds/Cosmic Whale
Link: www.bulletsize.se
 

BELLFAST - Insula Sacra (CD)

Now, here’s an interesting combination. A Japanese band playing Celtic influenced hard rock! Intriguing indeed! Another interesting detail is that the album was mixed by none other than Andy LaRoque! Looking at the band photo, these guys and girls mean business! Musically, yes, they do mean business in that department as well. This is actually really really good! Think heavy Jethro Tull meets Thin Lizzy meets Horslips, but with an aggressive and modern metal touch. They also blend in flute and violin in a very well-balanced manner. However, don’t be fooled by this, Bellfast are heavy and more metal than folk when it comes to the sound. The mix also enhances the heavy edge. Great guitar-playing with tons of nice harmony-work, thunderous drums and heavy plodding bass that at times gives it a touch of Steve Harris, but a bit more subtle. The vocals fit in well with the music and the whole package works really great. The songs are very well arranged and you definitely hear this bunch have been at it for a long time. Yes, the band was formed already in 1993, even though this is their debut album. Well worth checking out indeed!

Janne Stark

Label: King Records

Country: Japan

Year: 2010

EVILSEVE - Don't Fall Asleep ....It's (CD)

Sweden has produced a whole armada of retro metal bands lately, mostly ranging from the vaults of the seventies to the eighties. In the eighties department we find names like Steelwings, Enforcer, Helvetets Port etc. Add Evilseve. Not really sure about the seriousness of these boys, though. Judging by some of the song titles it seems like it’s pretty tongue in cheek. Well, judge for yourselves: what does titles like “Mosquito Balls”, “Rapist With A Blowtorch” and “Spank Me!” tell you? Musically, and lyrically, I find a lot of parallels with Göteborg metal clan Dream Evil. Just listen to a song like “Incompetence Is Bliss” where singer “Puss Peckard” (yeah, right…) sounds very much like Dream Evil’s high pitch god Niklas Isfeldt, which is great in my book. “Puss” is actually a damn fine singer (and I know he does appear in other bands as well). If Evilseve would’ve had the same big and fat production as the aforementioned this album would have been elevated a couple of steps. It’s by no means badly produced, I just wish…. Anyway, the songs are classic metal straight out of the book of heavy metal, and I like it! The band does it really well. It’s well-played, the musicians are great, the songs are really good and I can take a bit of humour in metal, no problem. I actually enjoy this album, I do. One thing I miss is the wigs. Boys, you could either take it all the way like Steel Panther, or go serious. You are great enough to go serious, that’s for sure. I’d go for the Steel Panther road as there MUST me more groupies there!

Janne Stark
Label: Manora
Year: 2010
Country: Sweden
Link: http://www.evilseve.com/

IMPLODE - The Hour Has Come (CD)

Sweden seems to be a highly fertilized breeding ground for new melodic death metal bands. There seems to be a new name popping up every week. Even though there’s a high risk of all of them melting together in one big pot if you don’t keep close track of them as they appear, a lot of them still have enough personality to shine on their own. I shall however point out that the bands that have already made a name for themselves such as Sonic Syndicate, Scar Symmetry, Soilwork and of course veterans like In Flames, Dark Tranquillity etc. have a much easier task. Fairly new label Supernova seems to be picking up several of these new acts. I have previously reviewed and written about Descend, Sarea and Hate Ammo. One of the newcomers of this label is Implode, voted best unsigned band in magazine Close-Up, before being picked up by Supernova. I agree, Implode is a highly competend, great sounding, tight, well-oiled thrashing death metal machine. The songs are really good and the performance top notch. However, I lack a bit of personality. They have all the right elements featuring angry vocals, (with some clean mixed in), great guitar solos, a really fat and thick wall of sound production, a drummer that knows how to work his feet. But, still, there are a lot of these type of bands out there with the same qualities, the same sound and songs in the same vein. There’s only a few songs that sticks out a bit for me, one being A War Within, which starts out with some cool dissonant clean riffing, moves into an almost doomy territory before the mayhem is released. I also like the kinda off-beat riffing in Black Crown and the Pantera-style riffing in album closer My Scornful Wrath is another highlight of the album. So, great sound, great band, but lacking in personality, at least for me.
Janne Stark
Label: Supernova
Year: 2011
Link: http://www.supernovarecords.com/artists.php?show=32