Down the Left Hand Path of Swedish Death Metal and Dismember’s Big Return – Part Two

You simply can’t talk about Swedish death metal without mentioning Entombed, who in 1990 unleashed their monstrous debut Left Hand Path — arguably the most important Swedish death metal album ever made. It gave the Swedish scene its own distinct identity, clearly separate from American death metal, and cemented the legendary “chainsaw” sound of Sunlight Studio for good. Entombed and Dismember are, like so many Swedish death metal bands, inextricably intertwined. Not only did Nicke Andersson give Dismember their name and logo, but the multi-talented icon of the Swedish metal scene also contributed virtually all of the guitar solos on Dismember’s debut, Like An Everflowing Stream.

So it’s no surprise that Skogskyrkogården cemetery — a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the final resting place of Sweden’s most famous actress, Greta Garbo — has become a death metal mecca. Entombed shot the booklet photos for Left Hand Path there, in front of a massive iron cross that now draws hordes of death metallers on pilgrimage to pay their respects to the genre’s history. One of the most entertaining things a fan of the genre can do in Stockholm is watch metallers trying to recreate the Entombed photo session. Our own (un)fortunate attempt is below.

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A little further from Skogskyrkogården lies another big name — one who left a deeper mark on the scene in Sweden’s western neighbor and who unfortunately went down in history mainly as a tragic figure. I’m talking, of course, about Per Yngve Ohlin, better known as Dead, who joined Mayhem in 1988 and ended his young life in 1991 at just 22 by suicide. But before Dead defected to Mayhem and recorded the legendary Live in Leipzig with them, he’d already made his mark in Morbid with the cult demo December Moon. Morbid still carried a fair amount of thrash metal influence back then, and the demo sounds, to put it mildly, pretty rough by today’s standards — but Morbid are nonetheless considered one of the first Swedish death metal bands and carried serious weight on the scene at the time. On December Moon, Dead already showed off a broad vocal range, while Uffe Cederlund (under the name Napoleon Pukes) threw down some absolutely top-tier death metal riffs.

For Dismember, the circle was completing itself after their premature breakup in 2011 — and in some style! Scandinavian Death Fest went down on 13.10.2019 at Kraken, right next to Ericsson Globe, the largest spherical building in the world at a whopping 85 meters tall with room for 16,000 inside. We packed in somewhat fewer at Kraken, but the club — capacity around 1,000 — was damn near full, and the anticipation ahead of the kings of Swedish death metal’s return was absolutely palpable. The festival feel was amplified by a separate space for unofficial merchandise set up in the neighboring building, a former slaughterhouse. And selling his Swedish death metal encyclopedia, Swedish Death Metal, there in person was none other than its author, Daniel Ekeroth — former bassist of the legendary Dellamorte, these days holding down the low end in Usurpess and Martyrdöd.

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Opening Kraken on Sunday evening were the Americans Impure, who’d also played the beer release party. The American trio ran through a practically identical set, tearing through odes to Hell, Lucifer, and all things occult, with the monstrous Horned Father of Desecration again leading the charge. He showed staggering form — nailing the vocals effortlessly even through the most brutal blast beats — though as before, the initial enthusiasm faded toward the end as the songs started blurring together and the riffs occasionally felt a touch too simple. Still, the Americans did their job: Kraken was slowly but steadily filling up.

After the Americans, the stage went fully Swedish, starting with the relatively obscure death metallers Vanhelgd from Mjölby. The four-piece, active since 2007, already have five studio albums under their belts — the latest, Deimos Sanktuarium, dropped last year. Vanhelgd are supposed to be in the same ballpark as bands like Asphyx, Entombed, and At the Gates, though I personally didn’t notice any overwhelming resemblance to any of them. The Swedes do occasionally drag their death metal growling down into near-doom territory, but they’re nowhere near the Dutch death/doom masters when it comes to rolling over your eardrums like tank treads. Vanhelgd did impress with the confident and brilliantly executed dual vocal assault from guitarists Mattias and Jimmy, but their slow-fast, fast-slow approach with repetitive riffs and lengthy tracks proved a bit too heavy a meal to serve right before the kings of Swedish death metal. That said, it was a treat to hear death metal with Swedish lyrics on their home turf — Vanhelgd mostly growl in their mother tongue.

The first truly great warm-up of the night came from Lik, who’d already impressed at the release party and on Sunday only confirmed that they’re the finest embodiment of classic Swedish death metal around. Lik again served up a mix of crushers from both of their studio albums, and with better sound than at Debaser during the Dismember beer launch, they absolutely ripped the skin off the crowd. New permanent bassist Joakim Antman, who replaced Johan Risberg, has fully settled into the band — he owns the stage and works the crowd with ease. Niklas Sandin (Katatonia) delivered a proper barrage of infectious riffs, and the new haircut aside, the real joy was watching him roam the fretboard while backing vocalist Tomas. Tomas deserves a big thumbs-up for his stage banter in Swedish, and vocally he again shone brightest on the current single Revel in Gore, which on the studio version features none other than Matti Karki himself. With Chris Barkensjö’s varied and inventive drumming, Lik tore through the set all too fast, wrapping up with the World War I massacre epic Le Morte Homme — those Iron Maiden-esque melodic thirds hit every single time — and the farewell “gore” anthem about one’s own decomposing body, Skin Necrosis. “Ugh!”

Lik setlist: To Kill, Rid You of Your Flesh, Ghoul, Left to Die, The Deranged, Death Cult, Serum 141, Revel in Gore, Le Morte Homme, Skin Necrosis

Before the festival’s crowning moment, another set of Swedish death metal veterans took the stage — a band that’s been going non-stop since 1988, and under other names even before that. Grave carved their name into death metal history with the legendary records Into the Grave and You’ll Never See, and before those, with the demos Sick Disgust Eternal and Sexual Mutilation. Unlike Dismember, who brought in Iron Maiden influences and melodic passages, or Entombed, who blended death metal with rock ‘n’ roll, Grave remain uncompromisingly committed to straight death metal. Under the leadership of the sole original member, the indestructible Ole Lindgren, the band delivered a devastating set of essential classics like Soulless, Into the Grave, and You’ll Never See — and surprised even more with some treats, opening at Kraken with the ancient killer Eroded from the pre-debut demo and single years. The rest was equally old-school, including a Corpse cover, Black Dawn. Grave then took the crowd through a cross-section of their extensive discography with great sound, and Ola impressed vocally — still raw and brutal despite being 51.

Grave setlist: Eroded, Black Dawn, Day of Mourning, Winds of Chains, Morbid Ascent, Soulless, Into the Grave, You’ll Never See, Annihilated Gods.

And then, finally, the moment we’d all been waiting for — the absolute highlight of the festival and the whole Sweden trip. The return of the mighty Dismember! The room was buzzing with anticipation as they unveiled the backdrop and unfurled the banners bearing the beasts from the Like An Everflowing Stream cover, then absolutely erupted when, to the sounds of Ides of March, Matti Kärki, David Blomqvist, Robert Sennebäck, Richard Cabeza, and Fred Estby marched out — the original lineup of arguably the greatest Swedish death metal band next to Entombed. Dismember wasted absolutely no time proving they weren’t messing around with this comeback, greeting the crowd gathered from all over the world with the magical riffs of the classic Override of the Overture. The Blomqvist/Sennebäck guitar duo had their chainsaws well-oiled, and the sawing and cutting didn’t stop for a second through the full ninety-minute, orgasmic set — a dream come true for everyone packed into Kraken. Expectations were sky-high going in, but the legendary five-piece exceeded anything you’d dare hope for. Matti Kärki didn’t lose a shred of vocal power for a single moment — he roared from start to finish exactly like the old days — and the energy from every single member on stage was unreal, instantly infecting the crowd. Surprisingly, there weren’t any especially massive mosh pits, but given the Gestapo-level response from security guards who showed zero mercy in ejecting even slightly too-rowdy punters, that’s hardly a shock. Not that it mattered — all eyes were on the stage and the death metal gods cranking out classic after classic. Skin Her “fuckin'” Alive, the divine Live for the Fear (of Pain), Skin Father, and even the title track from the legendary EP, Pieces. And not Pizzas, as Matti himself joked. Even though the guitar trio had swapped out their Boss HM-2 pedals for custom units built by Lone Wolf FX, the sound was absolutely stunning — and with those guitars sounding less like guitars and more like Canadian lumberjacks’ chainsaws, it went straight to the heart. Even more so with the impeccable song selection drawn exclusively from the brilliant debut, its follow-up Indecent & Obscene, Massive Killing Capacity, and Death Metal. Of Fire set Kraken — and half of Stockholm — ablaze, while Collection of Blood, which Matti sincerely dedicated to all the attendees and the broader death metal family, raised every hair on every arm and cemented itself as one of the most epic concert experiences you’ll ever have. Through Misanthropic, Dismembered, On Frozen Fields, and other crushers executed so perfectly that words fail you, Dismember brought it all home after well over ninety minutes with the immortal closing trio of In Death’s Sleep, Fleshless, and Dreaming In Red. Dismember already have several festival appearances announced for next year, and if you give a damn about death metal, catch them — because from what we saw and heard, they’re in the form of their lives. Dismember to every (Slovenian) village!

Dismember setlista: The Ides of March (intro), Override of the Overture, Skin Her Alive, Live For the Fear (of Pain), Skinfather, Casket Garden, Pieces, Bleed For Me, Of Fire, I Saw Them Die, Reborn In Blasphemy, Collection By Blood, Soon to Be Dead, Misanthropic, Dismembered, On Frozen Fields, Bred For War, In Death’s Sleep, Fleshless, Dreaming in Red

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P.s.: Swedish death metal is, of course, far more than just Dismember and the handful of other bands I’ve mentioned across these articles — there’s a whole treasure trove of other outstanding acts out there. You can’t overlook names like Carnage, Grotesque, Nirvana 2002, Bloodbath, Centinex, Edge of Sanity, General Surgery, Sarcasm, Vomitory, the Gothenburg bands led by At the Gates (along with the early In Flames and Dark Tranquillity), newer acts like Demonical and the brilliant but sadly already defunct Morbus Chron, and many more. Swedish death metal is a rich and powerful scene, and for an even deeper historical dive I thoroughly recommend Swedish Death Metal by Daniel Ekeroth.

Photos: Nina Grad