IT'S A TRAP! Scandinavian Music Journal

MP3: Odyssey - Pyramids

Tue, 26 Jun 2012 13:04:10 -0700

Speaking of pyramids, I like to imagine that this song is a direct expression of old-man-clouding over the modern era of tumblr-meets-witch house-style content-less/geometry-obsessed internet youth culture, which I suppose could be totally plausible considering Odyssey's own old-school, Geocities-style website, but I strongly suspect I am off the mark. Regardless, it's a good tune and I'm really into the recording which was done at Studio Hufvudstaden in Söderköping, a fact I gladly didn't discover until I had already made up my mind about it. Makes sense though- much like Maim who also recorded there, Odyssey's album "Abyssmal despair" sounds extremely rugged and dirty while still somehow retaining every instrument's place in the mix without ever getting muddy. Aside from a few minor overdubs, I bet this is an incredibly accurate representation of what these three dudes sound like jamming in a room together. In other cases I'm all for using the studio as its own instrument, but it makes perfect sense for a group of heavy jammers like this.

2011 Live Evil mix

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 11:36:50 -0700

The 2nd annual Live Evil Fest, featuring nothing but quality selections culled from Fenriz' band of the week posts, is happening this weekend in London and the blog A Fist in the Face of God has put together a mix of the roster for free download: http://afistinthefaceofgod.blogspot.com/2011/10/fist-in-face-of-god-presents-live-evil.html
Scandinavian acts include Witchgrave, Maim, In Solitude, Black Magic, Morbus Chron, Antichrist and Aura Noir.

A Fist in the Face of God interviews Maim

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 11:24:59 -0700

A Fist in the Face of God has posted an excellent interview with guitarist Scott Andersson of Swedish death act Maim ahead of their upcoming UK live debut at Live Evil: http://afistinthefaceofgod.blogspot.com/2011/09/interview-with-scott-of-maim.html
And yes, "Deceased to exist" is a great record and far better than their debut.

Maim Deceased to exist Soulseller Records

Tue, 10 May 2011 11:25:25 -0700

This isn't really doing it for me like it should. I love my old-school Swedish death metal and I'm as much into the resurgence of the style as anyone but, let's face it, the genre is a hell of a lot more populated now than it ever was back in the day. With that in mind, bands really need to up their game in order to genuinely recreate the vibe once reserved for the genre gods of the late '80s and early '90s. There's something about the production on "Deceased to exist" that fails to hit the mark and, to these ears, it's the fact that there's no real punch behind the sound. Bands that sounded like this back in the day generally did so through lack of resources when recording a demo and, given the genre in which Maim reside, it's quite possible that they're deliberately recreating this dirty, relatively weak sonority in an attempt to sound grim and nekro. Musically, it's nothing to get excited about and, as much as I love the style, I can't see Maim getting too much airplay in Chez Norby.

MP3: Maim - Morbid desecration

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 13:09:15 -0700

This is Swedish death 101. Aside from the blastbeat (please see exhibit "Screams of the mutilated"), "Morbid desecration" demonstrates each of the essential riff styles, from the mid-tempo heaviness of the intro, to the straight-up ripping main riff (complete with some choice start/stop breaks) to the doomy breakdown/solo and then finally the bridge, which takes on a shuffle pattern in 3. All totally crucial, all executed with the correct balance of precision and filth by Maim. Once again, these dudes prove they know what's up and deliver a solid slab with a crooked smile. Class dismissed.

Quarterly report: Q12011

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 14:42:59 -0700

Did I scare you? Truth is, I needed a day off and April Fools was a perfect excuse. The reality is that I don't think I can ever fully give this up because how else would I find out about all the new music that interests me? Sure, I could read rehashed press releases on many blogs from whatever artists currently happen to have the best PR and of course there's quite a few excellent genre-specialty sites covering mainstream pop, metal and hip-hop, but if there's anyone else out there covering underground/DIY indie/punk/hardcore/experimental/etc. with the same dedication, depth and breadth as IAT! please let me know so I can retire. I mean it.

Anyhow, the first three months of 2011 are now over and done with so let us now take the time to pause for reflection and for positivity's sake, let us first recount the highlights -- Peter Bjorn and John's "Gimme some" and Paper's "Mischmasch" are easily the two biggest standouts of the lot. Both superb albums, both well worth picking up. Niels Nielsen, Penny Century and Katharina Nuttall all released solid records as well, as did Maim, Iceage, Hymns From Nineveh and First Love, Last Rites. Been listening to Hexvessel and Sail a Whale a bit too, though the latter is a late discovery for me since it was released in 2010. Supersci's newest record "Timelines" from last year is another good one that I missed when it was fresh. Also still plenty to look forward to, Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words' swansong "Dreadcade" being a top pick, along with the arena-aspiring sounds of We are the Storm and Pixie Carnation and other exciting stuff like Gösta Berlings Saga looking quite promising.

As for reassessing my 2010 top picks, I'm still spinning all three on the regular -- Masshysteri, Dear Euphoria and Okkultokrati -- with no intention of shuffling them aside anytime soon. I revisited Johan Heltne's "Sara," this past weekend too and found that it's only gotten better over time. As for The Bear Quartet, as much I love them (and that's a lot), I don't feel the need to listen to "Monty Python" again for a while. Give me a year or two with that one to see where it stands against the rest of their impressive discography. Robyn, of course, remains tops, but you already knew that. I also revisited Underachiever's second demo and discovered that I totally get it now, while Faster Katt's latest is just ok when compared to the debut and Life Before Man's sole release has me wishfully thinking they'll actually get around to being an active band. 2010 was a good year and it feels good to say that my feelings on most of the records I praised has not diminished.

So while I'm still consistently fighting against burnout and the endless tide of mediocre music that makes its way to me, it's good to take a break to remember that there's still lots of reasons to be excited, both for now and for the future. There's always lots of good music, sometimes you just have to work a bit harder to find it.

Maim album gets title, samples now posted

Mon, 06 Dec 2010 20:01:34 -0800

Swedish death metallers Maim have confirmed that their new album "Deceased to exist" will be released in early 2011 via Soulseller Records and are now streaming three new sample tunes at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/maimdeathmetal
You can peep the new cover art from Mattias Frisk (Vanhelgd) over there as well.

Miasmal to debut at Kill-Town Death Fest

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 16:55:46 -0700

Swedish death metal act Miasmal will be making their long-awaited live debut at the upcoming Kill-Town Death Fest in Copenhagen on September 16. Other bands performing at said fest include Obliteration, Nominon, Ascended, Corpus Mortale, Maim, Vorum and tons more, including great non-Scandinavian acts such as Bloody Sign (FRA), Anatomia (JAP) and Dead Congregation (GRE) -- pretty much every top-level non-American death act. Full details here: http://www.killtowndeathfest.dk/

Maim - Screams from the mutilated

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 11:49:19 -0700

I already told you that Maim has a new album on the way; now there's a sample tune streaming at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/maimdeathmetal

Maim finish 2nd album, more

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 11:47:27 -0700

Swedish death metallers Maim have finished work on their sophomore album, recorded once again in their hometown of Åtvidaberg with producer/engineer Niels Nielsen. Expect a fall release. And speaking of Niels, check out a couple new solo singles from him at Bandcamp: http://nielsnielsen.bandcamp.com/

Sirius playlist week #24

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 11:29:21 -0700

Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU:

01. Randy - Who's side are you on?
02. TALK 1
03. Randy - Freedom song
04. Far From Tellus - Rosemary
05. Chicagojazzen - 18 år i en ruttnande kropp
06. TALK 2
07. Andreas Söderlund - Hawaii
08. Noisebud - Truck driver
09. Montys Loco - Heavy
10. TALK 3
11. Maim - Maimed
12. Turboweekend - Sweet Jezebel (Efterklang remix)
13. Pearl Fiction - The ruby fever
14. Meleeh - Hells mouth
15. TALK 4
16. Oranssi Pazuzu - Korppi
17. Brutus - Swedish lady
18. Entombed - Something out of nothing
19. Katzenjammer - To the sea
20. TALK 5
21. Robyn - Dancehall queen

Reminder: my show airs every week on Sundays and Mondays at 11pm ET on Sirius XMU. That's channel 26 on Sirius, 43 on XM and 831 for DirecTV subscribers.

Maim From the womb to the tomb Soulseller Records

Thu, 06 May 2010 11:33:46 -0700

This is cretin death metal for death metal cretins, as if that wasn't obvious from the title and cover art. No surprise, it's not as if the genre hasn't always been a refuge for degenerates and losers, though in Maim's favor, it must be said that their particular brand of death is far more schlocky b-movie horror/gore-obsessed than anything else. Thankfully, there's nothing even remotely approaching the distastefulness of Cannibal Corpse's "Fucked with a knife" and beyond that, I honestly doubt they take their lyrics all that seriously so neither should you. Anyhow, it's nice to see this album finally get a proper vinyl release at long last as that is the proper format for this sort of maggot-minded metal and Niels Nielsen's appropriately filthy, but extremely well-balanced production. Anything else you need to know can probably be gleaned from their country of origin (Sweden) and their choice of cover tune (Autopsy's "Ridden with disease"). I'll sure there are legions of people out there ready to start the backlash against the current old-school death metal revival trend, but as long as bands like this keep putting out solid new releases, I'm all for it.