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Crazy
how time flies. We are already old enough to be enjoying
a revivalist wave of Swedish death metal. You know, that
sound from the gutter, those buzzsaw and sludge drenched
guitars, that punked up drum beat and yeah, those
growling, deep yet somehow clear enough to be understood
vocals. Damn, the description sounds so generic. And it
is. Blame that on the genre and on its hundreds of
thousands of followers across the globe. They are the
ones that turned Swedish death metal onto a crazy
revolution. By now, the mere term is everyday metal
lingo.
Anyway,
Norwegians are stern to argue that the best black metal comes
from their land. And the Swedes? They’ve ruled death metal
enough to have two branches; the Gothenburg sound (At the Gates)
and the Stockholm sound; Entombed, Dismember, Unleashed and now
Chronic Torment. Yes, no one does the Swedish death metal sound
like a Swedish band. There is no doubt about that. To question
it, one would have to overlook Demons of Chaos, the third
full length from this fairly unknown Gothenburg quartet.
But these
aren’t new puppies in the kennel. In fact, the nucleus of this
band has been playing on and off since 1991. For those
interested in the details, this band was formed under the same
name in 1991, then changed it to Sacretomia and put out a demo
called Altar of Sin in 1991 and split up. Fast forward to
2006, and Chronic Torment are back on. They’ve been working hard
since, issuing three albums in the last three years and, just to
keep themselves in shape, are now self-releasing Demons of
Chaos.
So, does it
deliver? I guess the question would be, does it deliver Swedish
death metal? And the answer would be yes. It, in fact, it drops
gallons of it. It’s a lesson in Swedish death metal. But only
because it plays so much by the rules. If that’s not an issue
and you haven’t grown tired of the sound, then help yourself.
That’s what it is about. Chronic Torment play it and kill it.
Fat guitars, at times approaching crust-like revolutions,
rolling riffs, splashing cymbals, and a deep fucking growler
that could take the place of LG Petrov anyday now.
Songs like
“Plague I Feed” elevate the game just a bit. If there is
something that distinguishes Chronic Torment’s sound is the
orchestration that surfaces in key moments. Don’t be afraid,
this is used very responsibly. In the track in question, the
music breaks in the middle and for the first time do I witness
an harmonious encounter between brutal death metal and something
approaching majestic orchestration. There are no violins and
shit, just the sense that there is plenty of class in this
combo. So, why are they still unsigned?
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