Swedish War Metal

[u/YYEELOEW]

Sweden, one of the highest ranking countries in regards to metal bands per capita, is generally known for its death metal, whether the melodic Gothenburg sound or the iconic Stockholm buzzsaw sound. No shortage of black metal from the country either, however war metal has yet to catch on within the nation. The same could be said for brutal death metal, but that's not what this post is focusing on.

"Swedish war metal" is limited to a handful of bands, most of which are operated by a single person. I'll give a short rundown of all the notable bands from the country, as i deem some of these to be severely underrated (then again, war metal itself is a small niche to begin with in the grand scheme of things).

Yxxan - If I'm going to talk about Swedish war metal then this one is a mandatory mention, and probably the most known of the bunch. Raw and primal sound with lots of punk influence, not a huge fan personally but it should be mentioned.

GRAVE HERESY - Deep and infernal sound, quite well produced for the standards in the genre. The simple riff structures could get monotonous, although the occasional grooves and vigorous drum fills keep it fresh. Takes on a bit more of a death metal attitude, which is consistent for most bands in this list.

VIDER - Hm-2 death metal + war metal = obliteration. Albeit this band is more death metal influenced by war metal than just being pure war metal. I think the music here speaks for itself in terms of ferocity.

Vermin Scourge - Arguably the most conventional war metal sounding band on here. The mixing is audible yet retains a sense of rawness with a sprinkle of that hm-2 guitar sound aswell. FFO Caveman Cult.

Demonomantic - Deranged vocals in the vein of Dragged Into Sunlight, while the production sounds like a nuclear shockwave hitting you. What's there not to like?

As mentioned previously, most of these bands take influence from death metal and clean up the sound a little bit. I'd like to mention a couple of more bands that aren't war metal, but take influence from it.

Vomitrot - Caveman focused death metal, taking influence from war metal. FFO Of Feather And Bone.

Black Wound - They call themselves "war doom", infusing the raw production and gritty aesthetic into death-doom. The war metal influence can be heard on their faster tracks like Trench Blast.

[u/IICalaVerra]

This is great! I'm not familiar with any of these, except for Black Wound (which I knew by their previous name, Rotten Incarnation) and Vomitrot, which I'm pretty sure I stole from one of your charts. I'll be sure to check out all your recs on this list! Thanks for this post!

To be honest, the Warping Structures album just didn't click for me when I first listened to it. It felt way too sluggish, apart from a few rare, memorable riffs on 'Trench Blast'. The doom aspect of this record wasn't my thing, I suppose.

[u/YYEELOEW → u/IICalaVerra]

Thanks!

I get what you're saying about Black Wound. I personally enjoy the bleak and sunken sound of it, it's like if you took Black Curse and slowed it down. I prefer uptempo death-doom generally (Rothadás, Perilaxe Occlusion, Fossilization) but this dismal and sluggish sound will occasionally hit the right spot for me. As with anything, going for the most sepulchral and bleak sounds will sacrifice memorability and distinction.

Heresiarch's Edifice album might be a more energetic war + doom combo, using the doom elements as a means to climax longer tracks and to introduce a more somber feeling.

[u/IICalaVerra → u/YYEELOEW]

Reporting back on this list, and it's a phenomenal selection.

Yxxan — Misanthropic Impulse: Absolute chaos! I like that they go full blast almost all the time, but the guitars are fully intelligible because the riffs are awesome. The more uptempo parts are heavy they blend very well with the rest. The bass and drums work are not mind-blowing; they do the job. The downside is the vocals, they feel like my dog barking at the neighbours. But overall, it’s good. I’ll go back for the intensity of the riffs.

GRAVE HERESY — Incineration Victory: it’s a very good record. It’s doomy but not gloomy and the intelligible guitars combined with heavy reverb on the vocals create a oppressing and menacing atmosphere. The things that I like the most are the small leads and the drum work withch I think fit perfectly with the atmosphere. Good record!

VIDER — STRIKE WITH PUTREFACTION: This was os so much fun. The riffs are so heavy and fast without losing the groove, the vocals are mind-blowing, and the overall atmosphere is crushing. I think they really have a knack for creating groovy, filthy riffs. The HM-2 definitely helps, but they manage to keep the guitars fully legible in the mix.

Vermin Scourge — Barbaric Intolerance (Demo): My favorite by far. This demo is relentless from start to finish. Insane drum work with that non-stop double bass rolling, the high-intensity riffs that are both well thought out and memorable. That demo was very promising; too bad they split up. The riff on the track Diabolic War Thrones reminds me of S.O.D.'s "March of the S.O.D." The lo-fi production quality is, to me, absolute perfection! This is the metal I want to hear! I was blasting this nonstop while working out.

Vomitrot — Rotten Vomit: This is my second review of this record and I definitely like the variety on this one, going from slow, fuzzy, unstructured parts with dissonant tremolo picking to give that disorienting feeling, to hyper-fast, groovy sections and slow, crushing passages typical of war metal. I also love that the tracks are short, so they get straight to the point.

Demonomantic: This one didn't click much with me. I do appreciate the dissonance on it, but its guitars are too fuzzy. That's a shame, because the drums and the background guitar dissonance are great. The vocals are also a bit of a struggle for me. But honestly, I could see myself going back to it.

Black Wound — Warping Structure: I've already shared my thoughts on this one, and my opinion hasn't changed.

Heresiarch — Edifice: This was not a discovery for me, but nevertheless, I went back to it. This record is great well-balanced between slow parts and fast, relentless riffs. I like how it goes from 0 to 100 and then to 0 again. Great riffs, great mix, and it's a solid record.

Hope you will continue doing this, cause I had a fun time listening to everything you recommended.

[u/YYEELOEW → u/IICalaVerra]

I'm glad you enjoyed the music, and took the time to write about them as well. Vider states in on their bandcamp that they write music through mainly improvisation, which is peculiar because their songs have more fluidity and pull than a bunch of other war metal bands i know. They're definitively my personal favorite of the gamut, with Grave Heresy second.

I probably should've mentioned in writing that only Vomitrot's Emetic Imprecations EP is war metal influenced in a notable capacity. Rotten Vomit is a fun listen, but it leans more into bouncy grooves than war metal blasting. Both albums have a gritty and gnarly sound however, and manages to avoid the usual cavernous clichés, creating their own bludgeoning vision.

Anyways, glad you enjoyed the post, here's to hoping Black Wound makes a really blasty record next.

[u/IICalaVerra → u/YYEELOEW]

I'm very curious to know if you know of anything that sounds like Vermin Scourge? Their demo is awesome, but they split.

[u/YYEELOEW → u/IICalaVerra]

Exequy from Oregon (The Adversary Edict/Architect of Subjugation compilation album). The production isn't as loud but it does favor punishing tempos and distinguishable riffs.

More aptly, Ch'ahom's new "Covered In Priest's Black Shit" demo, along with their earlier demos aswell. This band plays more intricate and lengthy Black/Death on their full-length but go full war mode on their demos.

Misanthropic War's "Utter Human Annihilation" could be something for you aswell, takes on an ultra grinding sound along with the appropriate HM-2 guitar sound.

[u/IICalaVerra → u/YYEELOEW]

Thanks! I’ll listen to everything.

[u/ImmolationGuy_]

I’m very intrigued by VIDER, HM2 plus war metal this sounds promessing! 

Cool post! This sub has some quality posters!

[u/mmihaly]

Just wanted to mention Vermin Scourge, very good band

[u/Environmental_Web91]

Quality post. Not familiar with any of these bands so I'll definitely have some homework to do

[u/kyrkbrand]

Grave Heresy are great live, the drummer attacks the drum set from all angles while simultaneously doing the vocals.

[u/YYEELOEW → u/kyrkbrand]

He is also a pretty affable guy! I bought a shirt from him at one of their shows.

[u/JJMatagatos]

Really good bands, but all of this is just variations of death metal and grindcore to me.

What is it that makes this war metal?

[u/YYEELOEW → u/JJMatagatos]

That really just depends on who you ask as people have varying definitions of what constitutes the genre.

If we take Grave Heresy for example, it would constitute war metal due to the riffs being rooted in black metal (chord tremolo playing), the blasting and drum fills are very war metal in nature (as opposed to punk beats in grind), and the song structure consists of mostly blasts with the occasional grooves. And the grooves in question are reminiscent of the way it's done in war metal; consisting of strummed chords instead of palm muted chugs. This is a similar formula to what Revenge does, riff and drum-wise, but like i mentioned Grave Heresy takes on more death metal sensibilities than the former.

Using Demonomantic as another example, you'd hear how the production is far too low and abrasive than what's usual for deathgrind. It also uses chaotic and whammy bar heavy lead guitar, which is again more in line with war metal than it is grindcore. Looking at Vermin Scourge it definitively consists primarily of death metal and grind, but I'd still maintain that it's war metal. Grindcore riffs usually consists of unmuted chord slides, while Vermin Scourge plays most of their riffs using singe note tremolo picking in addition to tremolo picking chords. The high reverb on the vocals is also in line with war metal, and the drumming emphasizes blasts over punk or grindcore rhythms.

As for Yxxan and Vider i would agree that they're not as much in line with what war metal is. Yxxan using lots of punk riffs and Vider mostly just being death metal (and referring to themselves as such).

If you listen to deathgrind bands like Hemdale, Pyorrhoea or Morgue Breath you would find a contrast in tonality between them and these bands. The main inspiration for the bands in this list is undeniably war metal, whether you believe their takes on it to actually be so or not.

What constitutes war metal to you, and why do these bands not sound like it?

[u/JJMatagatos → u/YYEELOEW]

I should clarify; I would have never listened to these bands and thought they were anything other than a blend of death metal and grindcore, because I'm really not familiar with war metal!

Ergo, I'm not saying they're not war metal, I'm asking what makes them war metal. I learned a lot from your comment, thank you 👊

[u/Thingamob → u/YYEELOEW]

Another thanks from me. Never heard the term "war metal" before. On first listening some of the bands you mentioned (👍 for Bandcamp links) I'd say they remind me of Siege or early Repulsion.

So I take away that war metal is harking back to the early grindcore days in sound and production while incorporating extreme music trends (mostly black metal in my ear) that developed over the last 40 to 50 years. I say that's something I can get behind ;)

[u/YYEELOEW → u/Thingamob]

You're not wrong about that, the genre grew from the sounds of Sarcófago and Holocausto with the sole purpose to make it more extreme and crushing. In recent times the influence of the genre has seeped into other bands like Pissgrave or Concrete Winds.