Here’s another old school death metal effort featuring vocalist Roger “Rogga” Johansson who has graced bands like Ribspreader, Carve, Paganizer, Edge of Sanity, Deranged and recently, Those Who Bring the Torture. This time he’s helped by guitarist Rober Bustabad of Machetazo and drummer Phlegeton of Wormed (who plays drums here).
Ultimately the sound of Banished From Inferno (who originally formed under the name Berenice Bleeding) is what you’d expect from anything Johansson fronted-gnarly old school death metal with a definite Stockholm lean, in fact these 5 tracks (and cover of Celtic Frost’s “Into the Crypts of Rays” could be a continuation of the Ribspreader material, but on a more raw and primal level, despite a Dan Swano mastering job.
After a couple of minutes of spooky intro, opener “Aurora Macabra (Last Dawn on Earth)”, rumbles and gallops with a gritty old school tenacity and rough and ready delivery that sets the tone perfectly for “Storm Apokalypse” and its following brethren, “Calaveras” and catchy canter of “The Stench of Evil thru the Mist”. There’s nothing incredibly brilliant or creative about it, but 2008 releases by the likes of Bloodbath, Evocation and Facebreaker had the same issue; nothing groundbreaking, just perfectly done old school Swedish death metal. Now, Banished From Inferno has a decidedly more raw sound, and never forces the Sunlight buzz than those acts, but the backbone is the same.
Closer “The Solemn Bleakness” is a dark, doomy instrumental and a few moments of silence before the raucous Celtic Frost cover ending the EP with a classic note and yet another fine release from Johansson and whatever group of cohorts he amassed this time.
