At the time of recording their third album in 2016 the band were still a quartet of Stefan Pettersson (vocals), Påhl Sundström (guitars), Daniel Ekeroth (bass), and Calle Lönnberg (drums), but after the release of their next album, 2018’s ‘Interregnum’ Pettersson died from cancer and the band called it a day. The concept of the band was to blend death metal, crust punk and progressive rock, and it is truly strange to see an official photo where three of the band are wearing the obligatory death metal band shirts while the other is proudly wearing Yes. One could even argue the artwork sort of blends it all together as well, but that could be stretching it a little. Certainly, musically there is a lot going on, and while they can riff hard, when the time is right, they also slow it down in some places, and there is a lot going on.

This is certainly a lot to take in as one does not expect a death metal band to slow it down and move into areas which could arguably be considered Goth, but that is certainly what we get at the beginning of “Throwing The Gift Away” which also features a line where Stefan sings with no accompaniment which is certainly unusual within the death scene which is often about complex intertwined guitars. Undoubtedly, they have been influenced by Opeth, but have kept closer to death metal and bringing in influences from other genres as opposed to following the route undertaken by the masters of this style of mix. The result is an album with stacks of atmosphere and a lot going on, and while probably too overtly heavy and guitar laden for may progheads is certainly worthy of investigation by those who enjoy their metal to be more complex and multi-dimensional.

Rating: 7/10

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Links:
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https://www.agoniarecords.com/