Crematory (SWE)- Denial MCD

(Mangled Beyond Recognitions Records 1992)

Before the internet made it fashionable to search for the rare and obscure, owning an original copy of this MCD was like a membership to the "privileged" circle of Swedish death metal. Yeah, the words "privileged" and "Swedish" can have such perplexity, garnering the most extremely polar responses depending on what you're looking for in the music. If you unexpectedly raised your hand for power metal-whackos like Dark Tranquility, In Flames, and the list goes on, then you'll most likely have a hard time finding happiness in this release. This is the debut work of brutal, energetic Swedish death metal circa '92 as opposed to those phenylketonuric midsummer wet dreams, with material written as far back in '90 and it is essentially one of the finest example of the much celebrated scene. The band certainly had an interesting past, with members starting out as Afflicted Convulsion (what later became Afflicted) and Megatherion (yeah, Therion) before some of them found lividity in '89 with Crematory. The appeal of Crematory is so immediate that fanatics of well crafted, Swedish death metal will be instantly swept away by the band's command of engaging, heavy rhythms and memorable arrangements. Check out the way they do their time changes; they almost seemed to have lost their heads in the grinding euphoria but before you can open your mouth to utter "Awe...", they suddenly kicked off a midtempo "Birmingham" stride that evokes some really neat grooves not heard since Carcass. Before you expect another bop to the "Birmingham", they spooked you up with bewitching melodies that is so inherently Swedish in its cold, freezing mannerism. That's how adventurous the album can get from "Into Celephais", "Chunks Of Flesh" to "Denial" and "Unconsecrated Ground" without you staring at your stereos with ridicule. They had done widely acclaimed cult demos and this one is a fruition of their prowess. But why the hell like many great bands, this one just comes out like a short memorable fart and after that silence? You remember me saying how rare the MCD is? It seems like every metalhead I know are trying to lay their hands on a copy of this and also the MLP version from the same label. Well, even after the internet made it fashionable to search for the rare and obscure, owning an original copy of this MCD still feels like a membership to the "privileged" circle of Swedish death metal for the few metallers who find no bliss in having some crappy Naglfar picture disc on their walls.