It looks like we have another burgeoning Rogga Johannsson in the making by way of Sweden’s Johnny Pettersson. Not only did he feature in the reactivated Wombath, he is in Ashcloud, Gods Forsaken, Human Harvest, Just Before Dawn, Syn;Drom, Skineater, Vholdghast and produces/mixes or masters in all of those projects.

On Henry Kane (The creepy old preacher guy from Poltergeist II), Pettersson plays all instruments and performs the unhinged vocals, and is a grinding crusty take on the classic Swedish death metal sound but as owes as much to Skitsystem,  Nasum and Rotten Sound as much as the expected Swedish mid range death metal sound. The assault comes in mostly short, sub 2 minute bursts and is armed with a devastating Swedish buzz that’s magnified by the often wall of noise blasts. The material does not carry the usual catchy Swedish mid range canter or trot but a torrent of sheer noise.

Picking out individual riffs or moments is nigh impossible as there is barely any respite in the 15 song , 30 minute assault. Either a few short bars of massive groove such as opener “En själ till salu”, “En grav av ångest” or “Lögnens svarta ögon” or ‘slower’ song the 4+ minute “Det var inte ditt fel”. The other ‘long’ song, “Den förstörda människans rike” starts with a little atmosphere, but soon careens out of control.

Otherwise, the tracks like “Svarta Tanka”, ” Skuld och begär”, “Dragen i Skiten” , “Kara bror” or blistering “Är din botten nådd” simply blaze by with full on mid range on grindcore on steroids with bad intentions. The only real down side is that the intensity is so dialed up up, there is little that sticks with you or requires re-listening.

As if Transcending Obscurity Records had any more reason to be Asia’s most dominant and pioneering record label, Henry Kane and Den förstörda människans rike ensure to hammer that fact home with arguably the label’s most devastating release to date.

[Visit the band's website]

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