INFERNAL BLASPHEMIES

A while back, we covered the incredible upcoming Swedish-via-Holland death metal group ENTRAPMENT. There were only a few songs available through the band's MySpace (including a great Nihilist cover) and their only physical appearance was in the recent Invocation of Death Vol. 1 compilation tape from Death Invocation Records...until now.

Belgium's Detest Records (finally) just put out the debut demo tape this morning (EST time) and, of course, everyone needs to order it! It's limited to a mere 350 copies and I reckon it will sell out soon. This is only the beginning for this incredible band!

Also check out Guitar World Magazine's MetalKult blog for a cool feature on Entrapment as part of their Notes From the Underground series!

BURIAL INVOCATION

So my friend and I were browsing the Detest Records distro page and BURIAL INVOCATION from Turkey (of all places) caught our attention. Let's just say that this unorthodox location for death metal has produced a really fucking amazing and brutal band!

They have a demo tape out, Rituals of the Grotesque, and you can pick it up at Detest or other like-minded distros from around the world (wide web). The first thing I thought after hearing "Desecration Remains" was early Dismember + insanely brutal vocals. Nothing wrong with that at all! "Haunted Crypts of the Ancient Dead" is more slow and epic and gives a frighteningly dismal feeling - which is how real death metal should feel like. This is highly recommended!

They're also playing the ridiculous Kill-Town Death Fest in Denmark. If you happen to live around there, there really is no excuse to miss it!

Oh, and note the amazing logo art! It was done by the talented Daniel Desecrator.

More new stuff!

Following the previous post about the new track that Entrapment posted, Sweden's MIASMAL has a new track up, entitled "Creation of Fire" from their upcoming 7" EP, on their MySpace page! What can I say? D-Beats, punishing riffs, morbid production, punk-ish attitude... all of this makes killer death metal and Miasmal knows how to include them. Look for their 2-song 7" EP on Detest Records this month.

VETERNUS

A lot of the new death metal bands coming out of Sweden are all great. No, really. I don't think I've encountered a single shitty death metal band from Sweden recently. However, these motherfuckers totally blew my mind. The reason consists of two words: Morbid and Angel.

Veternus probably listened to Morbid Angel a bit too much. Actually, who the hell am I kidding? There is never enough. "Morbid Destruction" even has the signature Trey whammy-bar-dive thing. Drummer P.Possessed definitely likes his blasts like Pete Sandoval.

I don't know what else to say. These guys are my new favorite death metal band. Get their demo tape at Detest Records now.

*****

Part 2 to Post Apocalyptic Inquisition coming soon. Blame these guys.

ENTRAPMENT

The underground is a small place, indeed.

The other day, as I was checking the MR MySpace, I received a friend request from these brutes: Entrapment. I mean, there's not much to say - you gotta hear these guys! As the logo suggests, these guys play death the old way and they do it right. Notice the Dismember-worship in the logo!

From what I heard on the MySpace, they have amazing vintage demo-quality recordings and don't fall short on the quality riffs. Adding a Nihilist cover is a nice touch, too.

Speaking of which, these guys worship Swedish Death Metal. The early-LG Petrov vocals, the tone... pretty much everything. It's almost nuts how these guys were probably hardly born then. Oh, they're from the Netherlands. Go figure (ahem, early Asphyx).

Be on the lookout for their upcoming demo tape on Detest Records soon!

TRIBULATION

Well, well, well... what do we have here? Well, we have another fine band from Sweden and the one I'm gonna focus on now is Tribulation. These guys are in a very interesting state of affairs over yonder in Scandinavia, much like how bands like Bonded By Blood and Warbringer are over here in the States. The "interesting state of affairs" that I'm referring to is the "sudden resurgence" of the bands' respective scenes/genres. Over here, we have the thrash "revival" where many journalists (in some cases) lump any young band that sounds/looks thrash as "thrash revival" and the same rules apply in Scandinavia with death metal. Thus is the sad truth about the industry "know-it-all's"...

Tribulation are not, in any way, shape, or form, a "revival" band! There! I said it! So what are they then? A death metal band. I would also say they have some pretty strong thrash influences as well, which seems logical since the band evolved from Hazard. Again, I must reiterate the fact that these guys don't sound "retro" and even though they are from the same country that spew forth Entombed and Dismember, they have nothing in common with their Heavy Metal Pedal countrymen.



One good listen to the band's debut LP, The Horror, will make you aware of this fact. There's no shortage of speed here. There's also no shortage of insane riffs! I'm actually gonna stop right here and direct you over to MetalKult's review of the album. Why? I don't like to repeat myself.

I will, however, repeat one point that was touched upon in that review: the artwork. Holy. Shit. Two words, when put together, that means... you know - something awesome. Guitarists Adam Zaars and Jonathan Hultén apparently aren't just skilled at their instrument. They actually have their own art/design firm called Necromantic Art and if you're looking for something brutal for your band or whatever, be sure to get in touch with them (details below).



Another interesting thing about these guys are their other bands. Bassist/vocalist Johannes Andersson and Hultén are in another (excellent) death metal band called Stench and Zaars is in the traditional heavy/speed metal band Enforcer. Without giving too much away in this particular post about Tribulation: if you like either genre, you're most likely enjoy gonna both bands.

If you want to know more about Tribulation (though you probably won't since this band is pretty mysterious), head over to their MySpace. For Necromantic Art, check out their official homepage for contact info.

For the CD version of The Horror, go to Pulverised Records' webstore. For the super-awesome vinyl version, head on over to Blood Harvest's webstore. While you're there, you can also find their great 7" EP, Putrid Rebirth. Check out Detest Records for the EP as well.

*****

One last thing about the band: if you're in Germany around early-mid August, be sure to attend Party.San Open Air! Tribulation will be playing alongside the best of the best in the realm of death and black metal! More coverage on this later...