KAAMOS - Kaamos /2002

2002's release slate has proven that Swedish death metal is still very much alive and well. Between the new output from bands like The Crown, Necrophobic, Centinex, Vomitory and Demigod [who are Finnish, but very much a Swedish sounding band] already having made disgruntled old-schoolers everywhere rock out with their cocks out, and the impending releases of reunion albums from Luciferion and Grave, the OG Svensk crowd seems hell-bent on reclaiming their dominance of the nation's "scene" from the watered-down, hypermelodious and rather effeminate [as of late] Gothenburg disciples. And I, for one, could not be happier about this. Kaamos is not old-school Swedish death in the literal sense, but in spirit, they very much wave that flag high and proud.

According to the press statement issued with this cd, Kaamos started out in a suburb of "metal city" Stockholm back in 1998, and that this is their debut full-length, which accounts for the rawness and youthful aggression exhibited on this disc. The sound is more akin to second-generation Swedish death, such as Nocturnal Silence-era Necrophobic [on the more midpaced, melodic portions] and Luciferion [during the faster songs like 'Khem'] and early Hypocrisy, although influences from elder bands like Entombed, Dismember and Grotesque are present as well. It's nothing particularly groundbreaking, in the sense that you couldn't really listen to Kaamos and think to yourself, 'wow, this is pretty unique shit, right here,' but the album still has all the earmarks of a quality Swedish death metal record. It's catchy, the riffing is brutal and harsh, but still melodic, with a lot of midrange in the tone [though not quite the buzzsaw-through-flesh sound birthed by Tomas Skögsberg at Sunlight Studios.] Vocals are deep and throaty, but not vomitously guttural; I'd compare them to Ross Dolan [Immolation] or Wojtek Lisicki [Luciferion], though some of the higher-end vocals seem to echo Keith Warslut of Deströyer 666.