This is where the THALL begins… Okay, I know this might look like an easy one and you may say “Ooh this is not that great an exploration of metal!”. But people need to know that there’s a lot more greatness coming out of Sweden than just Meshuggah and Vildhjarta. After Vildhjarta took the metal underground by storm with their debut album “Masstaden” in 2011, a lot of bands from Sweden put themselves in the wake of that dark and huge sound, frequently entwined by deep atmospheric passages. It spawned a large movement which didn’t develop around a single city, but rather grew up everywhere in the country. Ehm…if you follow this website I hope I’m not supposed to introduce names like Meshuggah and Vildhjarta, so I’m going straight to the ones you may not have heard of.
One of the most followed bands of this style is currently Humanity’s Last Breath, frequently referred to as “the second Vildhjarta”. They’ve already released 2 EPs you can stream / buy on Bandcamp. But in 2012 they released a new song called “Animal” to show everyone the new direction they were taking with their upcoming album. It actually sounded like a deathcore version of Vildhjarta, a bit more aggressive and straightforward. They’ll be releasing this new album in 2013 and it’s looking to be one of the bigger releases of the year (check out some samples on their Soundcloud page here, especially the track in which they test their new HLB Etherial Guitar) and they’re also one of the first bands confirmed to play at Euroblast 9! Check ’em out.
Another relatively known band is Means End. They’re recognized for being the new project of Vildhjarta’s former vocalist Robert Luciani. This guy is able to deliver amazing growls and perfect clean vocals. Means End have only released a 3 tracks EP so far which was incredibly badass. And they also promised to deliver some new stuff very soon. Definitely look forward to that! And don’t forget their EP is available for FREE! You can download it right here.
And now, let’s dig a bit further into the underground. Jonnah is a good band coming from Hudiksvall (same city as Vildhjarta). They’ve been getting a good number of followers through two small EPs packing huge sounds. They recently recruited a new vocalist and are working on some hot new material at the moment. Give ’em a listen on their Soundcloud page and remember that both of their releases are available for free!! Download them right here, right now!
Gothenburg’s band Limbo is another act you should keep your eyes on. They don’t have any official releases yet but they uploaded some really cool material on their Soundcloud. They have two amazing vocalists along with a lot of talent and creativity to boot. Give a listen to their song “With Eyes Wide Shut” and to the snippets they’ve uploaded on Soundcloud and start following them!
Links: Facebook // Soundcloud
Behindert is another artist you need to check out. It’s a one man project from Orebro in which a single guy, Andrè, literally plays all the instruments. He has some really impressive music on his Soundcloud where you can also find some music from his electronic project Mis Trigger.
Links: MySpace // Soundclick // Soundcloud
We also recently presented another crazy band from Stockholm called MTWHDTDTIC (Maybe That’s Why Humans Drink The Darkness That Is Coffee). Their abnormally long name matched by a crazy mix of ambidjent and math-metal will immediately strike you. You better get stoked for their new release “Dum” coming out in July. Should be awesome. Meanwhile, give a listen to their first release “Window To The World” on Bandcamp.
Something interesting about the rising “thall movement” is that most of these bands still haven’t released their debut / first album and yet they all have some new incoming material. This means there’s gonna be a lot of great stuff coming out of here in the following years which may end up influencing the future of metal. And don’t forget that Vildhjarta is also going to release a new EP very soon! Check out our preview for “Thousands of Evils” right here. THALL.
Stay tuned for more explorations!! Next stop: Greece!
– MATTIA
