Back at the end of the eighties, some (very young) obscure swedish acts took the european underground metal scene (and as a matter of fact the pages of the first PullTheChain paper format issues) by storm with some kind of ‘different’ death metal. Nihilist, Repugnance, Unleashed, Treblinka, Desultory or Evocation’s greatest asset has been their ability to marry brutal groovy riff with a real and completely unexpected sense of melody. This talent reached its climax on both the top-class «Left Hand Path» and «Evocation promo2002», without any doubt the demo and album by which all the other releases have (are and still shall, if you often visit our reviews pages) be judged. Although I like what the N.W.O.S.D.M.’s sound evolved into with acts such as Sacrilege, Ebony Tears, Dark Tranquillity, In Flames… I always went back to first hour ‘Sunlight’ or ‘Studio Z’ recordings. What we get here is the gathering of Nihilist / Entombed demo works. I mean excellent groovy riffs, super vocal performance by L.G. Petrov, clear bass / drums foundations…even more than fifteen years later, it still sounds ace. «Nihilist 1987 – 1989» and Evocation’s last year compiled demos add to the distance between all the nowadays european death metal acts and the genitors of the swedish touch. Listen and learn!
Georges

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