In fairness, given that they’ve been about since 1991, you’d probably expect Interment to know what they’re doing when it comes to properly Swedish old school death metal.Turns out that they really do know what they’re doing alright, and that this is a really infectious slab of that buzzing, grinding HM2 pedal-powered badness that you’ve all come to know and love. Thing is, with about eleventy-trillion bands all peddling similar approaches, what do Interment bring to the party?
Well, in short order, Interment have two great things going for them here. The first is the perfectly honed song writing. See, it’s not enough to be able to knock out half a dozen passable riffs per song, chuck a load of fuzz over the top of it, and then call it a wrap, repeat nine times more and call it an album. No, you have to be incisive, and have a properly ruthless approach to song-craft. All of this is evident on “Scent of the Buried”, so that by the time the third track, “Chalice of Death” has come around, you’ve already had more time changes, slowed-down menace and tasty guitar melodies than you’ll have in the entire back catalogues of some of the Johnny-come-lately also-ran bands that are out there these days.
Secondly, Interment know how to take their foot off the pedal as well as get their heads down and go for it. There’s nothing that can kill a good death metal album more than one-note approaches to massively rapid tempo. Interment know that sometimes, slower is more sinister, and in this – perhaps the purest form of death metal that relies massively on the atmosphere for the chills, rather than any kind of appeal to technical wizardry, the creeping gloom and unearthly tones of the guitars need to be able to breathe from time to time. This includes allowing the bass to rumble freely and be the very active spine of the track, as with the killer title tune of the album, a proper slow to mid tempo stomper that goes heavy on the nastiness and takes its time in pummelling the listener into submission.
Yes, the vocals are exactly as you would expect – more Dismember than Entombed, for sure, and the production sounds very much like you might expect, though keeping a slight echo on the vocals helps to keep the spookiness levels up to scratch. The drums have that really pleasing semi-thrash influence intact, with some sneaky d-beat sections sneaked in here and there too to keep that punk influence alive. The guitars have proper low end rumble, but when the melodies are played, the interplay between the tones is really exquisite. This is a really excellent production (courtesy of Sunlight Studios no less – who else could it be, really?). This is a master class in the style, dripping with proper atmosphere, catchy grooves and memorable song writing. It’s also an exercise in proper song writing – every track more or less excellent, with nary a touch of the filler to be found. In keeping the true spirit of the style here, we’ve found that there is still plenty of life to be found in one of the most venerable styles of our beloved death metal – but just that perhaps it takes masters of the art to be able to do it properly.
(8.5/10 Chris Davison)
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