Delete

I must admit that for many years I didn't even realize that a band called Coercion exists somewhere there. At the time when these Swedes have released their both full length albums I never heard of them, and I don't know if it was because I didn't pay enough attention or simply because both Coercion albums were released by small label Perverted Taste Music. Let's be honest, it has never been prolific label, with vast distribution line and great advertising campaign hehe. Besides, Coercion was not a band that was coming with the first wave of Swedish death metal... Sure, they had some demos released in 1993 and 94, but the debut album "Forever Dead" was released in 1997 and at that time we were all more excited about the black metal coming from Norway rather than about some unknown Swedish death metal bands. Anyway, couple of years ago I've read something about Coercion and decided to buy their second album "Delete", hoping to hear some cool death metal. I wasn’t sure if this album will good at all, especially as “Delete” was released in 1999 and it wasn’t the best year for underground death metal... Hmm, great death metal records were just very few back then and they rather came from biggest names of the scene as well as from some more established underground acts such as Vomitory, Centinex, Fleshcrawl... But I can honestly say that the name Coercion should be added to this list. Yeah, "Delete" definitely meets my expectations and I am very please to say this is very cool Swedish death metal record... Yeah, Coercion is yet another name on the Swedish death metal map, which you must know and get their stuff immediately!

I think I can risk saying that "Delete" is one of the best Swedish death metal albums of the time (end of the 90’s). What I like especially about it is that it is pure death metal, so Coercion doesn't fuck around with keyboards, female vocals or other bullshit, but actually play pure, classic death metal. And so there are some faster and brutal songs, then some slower stuff, but also more melodic tracks here and there... Mainly it is groovy and mid paces, so maybe nothing exceptionally original, I know, but the result is just really, really good here. And I can say that I like it a lot.

I guess one of my favourite songs on the album is "Carve the Stone". What an awesome opener! It is quite groovy, but with a lot of aggressive, classic death metal parts and there are even some blasting fast fragments here and there, so in the end it is very diverse, but classic death metal tune. Great riffing! Great vocals of Kenneth Nyman! Great sound! "Once I Cared" sounds like At the Gates a lot, just check that opening motif hehe. But it is also very good track, with great feeling and powerful playing. Following with "Eclipsed", it has some resemblance to Grave, even Gorefest and Six Feet Under... and so on and on; many great songs, many great riffs... I absolutely feel like none of these tracks here are bad, there are no fillers, but just very good death metal stuff, played with passion, groove and aggression. If you prefer slow and heavy pieces then such songs as the awesome "Without Aim", "Life Denied" or "Evolution Reversed" will be for you for sure and will be enough to satisfy your hunger for killer death metal. Do we need anything more? I don't think so. "Delete" is good as it is and I can truly recommend you this criminally unknown and underrated band and almost forgotten album.
Standout tracks: "Carve the Stone", "Mental Turmoil", "Without Aim"
Final rate: 70/100

When embracing any extreme based musical material that comes from Sweden, you'll instantly be faced with the basic structure of the Scandinavian rules. Highly produced, full of instrumental chaos, and usually quite original. The straightforward death-metal ravagers, Coercion, simply strip layers of flesh from the bone and present a vicious attack of unique turbulent structure.

Two years after their weaker sounding album "Forever Dead", Coercion team up with Swedish mastermind, Mieszko Talarczyk (R.I.P.), to further their furious range of tracks with absolute perfect production that is "Delete". Not only does it sound a lot more thick/solid, the song variation is switched up magnificently to take the listener by storm in comparison to previous works.

The guitars take the best part of the album by a long shot. Spewing with precise distortion. Some riffs in this album make me want to obliterate large amounts of the human race. Heavy, coated with memorable groove, and just fucking destructive. The guitar work joins alongside the astonishing vocal efforts. With lyrics dealing with extreme depression and hardships with understanding the meaning of life, you can imagine they won't be pretty. The amount of negativity growled and screamed into the microphone can be felt in harsh doses of musical notes.

Dealing deadly blows as well, are the drums. Carrying the pace of the song through insanely well coordinated hits of the cymbals, the sound of it is key to the album. The resonant bounce to the snare adds a creative element coiling around each track.

A lot of the songs are quite decent in creating an original feel/sound to them, but getting to the end of the album, one can realize that it gets a little repetitive. Really, though, what death-metal based album doesn't sound the same at times?
There is talent in this band. With "Delete", you'll find the best sound Coercion have ever obtained.

Best track - "The Pointless Routine" (been headbanging for weeks to this song)

Coercion was a little late to the old school Swedeath party. After a pretty solid debut, they cranked out this follow-up, which is probably their best release.

Basically this is Dismember crossed with Bolt Thrower and a sprinkle of Vader. It's well-executed - the band is tight as hell; the vocals are more precise and less "wet" than on the previous album, while still maintaining their monstrous resonance; and overall the music blasts into the listener like a semi at 100 mph. There is no misguided melodicism or overdone groove elements - this is pretty much straight-up old school death metal, largely of the Swedish variety but borrowing from the American form as well.

Where the album lacks is in songwriting and sound. If Dismember almost can't help but write songs that stick to your ribs, so to speak, Coercion has a hard time doing the same, ever. This is one of those albums that sounds good as it's going by, but you won't retain any memory of its parts - just an overall impression of what it sounded like. This is true of a lot of average death metal bands, and it's true of Coercion. About the sound, no worries if you are considering buying this - it's well-balanced, competently mixed, and cleanly produced. But in the process they lost all the character. This is a band that would have sounded much uglier - almost Grave-like, or Indecent and Obscene-ish - if they'd received a standard Sunlight production job. In truth, Sunlight would not be a great match for their chunkier, thrashier riffs (many of which are not all that Swedish-sounding... maybe it's just the lack of reverb). But it would give the recording a lot more character. The sound here greatly resembles the very clean, forceful approach on recent Vader albums, meaning you'll have little to whine about but also little emotional attachment to the music.

My take on Coercion is that if you really like the old Swedish death sound (like I do), this is a good listen. If you like meat-and-potatoes death metal this is kinda-sorta worth your time. But I wouldn't pay too much for it or expect too much out of it.