Various Artists - 'Swedish Death Metal'

Utterly essential collection of Swedish Death metal rarities and outtakes.

Daniel Ekeroth’s book Swedish Death Metal was an exhaustive chronology of a sound and a movement that spawned influential bands like Entombed and At The Gates. Prophecy Productions has now released an accompanying CD box set that is as essential as the book to understanding the Swedish scene. While many CD compilations are nothing more than cash grabs by record companies, this is the opposite.

Swedish Death Metal is a work of metal archaeology, painstakingly assembled by people who obviously live for this music. Packed with rare demos and outtakes of cult bands and bands that would later form big-name bands, Swedish Death Metal is an essential purchase for anyone interested in extreme metal.

The first disc is a collection of rare demos from bands like Mefisto and Nihilist (who later went on to form Entombed and record the seminal Swedish death record Left Hand Path). The sound quality isn’t excellent on these tracks but is certainly better than old bootlegged cassettes. Plus, most metal fans simply wouldn’t be able to track down most of this material on their own. Upon opening this collection they’ll feel like Indiana Jones when he briefly grabs the Holy Grail.

The second disc covers early works from Entombed, General Surgery and Marduk while the final disc contains rarities from acts including Suffer and Furbowl. The producers remind me of the stout folks who hunted down early blues records which were later remastered; without their persistence it’s likely we wouldn’t be hearing this music at all.

Bathory is overlooked on this collection which is an obvious oversight. However, that probably has more to do with licensing issues and rights than any desire to deny Quorthon his righteous place at the top of Swedish metal heap.

Like the Century Media Hellhammer collection Demon Entrails, the Swedish Death Metal set has documented a critical time in metal history for listeners, both those new to the scene and hardcore vinyl collectors. It’s a literal treasure trove of rarities. If you have a metalhead on your Christmas list this year here’s what you should stick in their blackened bulletbelt stocking.