Anyone into this band? Im thinking that they should appeal to those of you who dig Filth Pig, not to mention the Down fans among you…
They started as a death metal band, pioneering the Swedish Death Metal style with “Left Hand Path” and then perfecting it with “Clandestine” (seriously, I cant think of any other death metal release in this style that is better than this album). Instead of sticking to their early sound, they evolved into what people call death’n’roll with their next album “Wolverine Blues” and still play in this style today. The death’n’roll stuff recalls sludge metal a little bit, but with more hardcore thrown in and with a clear death metal approach to texture and expression. Certain bands tried to emulate this style (cant think of any names unfortunately, but this is because they all sucked) but noone really nailed it like they did. Their lyrics are also usually quite humorous, which is unusual for this genre of music.
I remember walking into a comic store with some friends in high school and seeing Wolverine Blues for sale. Out of boredom, I bought the album and was hooked.
I eventually sought out their back catalog but wasn’t as impressed. Death Metal was never really my thing. I enjoyed their cover of God of Thunder and enjoyed hearing them experiement on subsequent albums, however, they lost me with Same Difference. I haven’t heard a new tune of theirs since. I know that they still have quite the following in Europe.
yeah, that wolverine cover was a good idea on their label’s part. of course, the music or lyrics have absolutely nothing to do with x-men, but the promo got them some fans (yourself included, as it seems).
i guess they realized that “Same Difference” was lackluster since the next album after that was a kind of raw hardcore, showcasing the best attributes of their sound. Since that time they more or less kept releasing high quality albums, although they never reached the quality of Wolverine Blues… Their latest album “Serpent Saints” is a bit of a baffling set of songs, since they tried to bring some of the death metal elements back, with mixed results.
One of those ‘could’ve been’ bands that seemingly lost their way at some point. After Wolverine Blues their output slowly deteriorated into mush.
I’m in total disagreement here.
To Ride Shoot Straight And Speak The Truth was a great album, a step further in the Death’n’Roll style they are known for. One of their very best.
Uprising showed a more “hardcore” (in the “crust” sens of the term) angle. My personal favorite.
Morning Star had a cleaner but thicker production and on some songs a Slayer-feeling. One of their best albums for many of their fans.
And personally I like Serpent Saints very much, even if some songs are maybe less impressive.
Did never think of a Ministry influence though… Interesting point of view…
To Ride Shoot Straight And Speak The Truth was a great album, a step further in the Death’n’Roll style they are known for. One of their very best.
It was a ‘step further’ into that direction - probably a step too far however. Found it to be too distracting.
Morning Star had a cleaner but thicker production and on some songs a Slayer-feeling. One of their best albums for many of their fans.
Agree - this was one of their best (and most overlooked unfortunately).
I always thought they’d go on to be a s big as Slayer, mostly because of the incredible raw talent displayed early on in their career. But people just seemed to forget who they were over time. Yet Slayer, who are far less inspirational and much more derivative, went on to bigger and better things.