Demonical – Mass Destroyer
Release Date: 6th May 2022
Label: Agonia Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Swedish Death Metal
FFO: Entombed, Dismember, Grave, and Bloodbath.
Review By: Eric Wilt
I will be the first admit that I don’t know a lot about Sweden. In fact, I’m embarrassed to say that the first three things that come to mind when I think of Sweden are 1. Snow, 2. Drew Barrymore playing Swedish hottie Bjergen Kjergen in Wayne’s World 2, and 3. Death Metal. Fortunately, Demonical is a Swedish death metal band, so I should have a semi-intelligent thing or two to say about their new album Mass Destroyer. Coming out hot on the heels of their 2020 release World Domination, Mass Destroyer is everything you could want from a Swedish death metal album in 2022. Or in 1993 for that matter.
At this point, I should make a distinction about Demonical’s brand of Swedish death metal. Since it’s such a metal country, Sweden is known for two types of death metal. First is the death metal of the Gothenburg scene, which is more melodic. Bands like At the Gates, Dark Tranquility, and (old) In Flames fall into this category. The other type of Swedish death metal is that of the Stockholm scene, which is similar to American death metal, except the Swedes use actual buzzsaws instead of guitars. Following in the footsteps of bands like Dismember, Entombed, and Bloodbath. Demonical are accomplished purveyors of the Stockholm style of death metal. Speaking of Entombed, Demonical makes a reference to their seminal Swedish death metal release, Left Hand Path, name-dropping it in the song Fallen Mountain.
Demonical doesn’t break any new ground on Mass Destruction, but what they do, they do well. Chock-full of buzzsaw guitars, growling vocals, and aggressive drumming, Mass Destroyer is firmly set in the old school. Songs like Sun Blackened, Dödsmarsch, and Cemented in Ire will get the circle pits revving, while songs like Fallen Mountain and Lifeslave, combine more melody with a mid-tempo pace to balance the raw aggression of the rest of the album. The last song on the record, By Hatred Bound, is a standout track that shows what Demonical would sound like if they decided to write an Arch Enemy tune. Overall, you will be hard-pressed to find a mediocre song in the whole lot. The eight tracks on Mass Destroyer are a testament to the old adage, practice makes perfect, because this is Demonical’s seventh full-length release, and it is pretty near perfect.
If you are a fan of the Stockholm death metal style, you probably already know about Demonical, but if you haven’t checked them out yet, Mass Destroyer is an excellent place to start.
(4.5 / 5)
