Asteni

I’d never heard of Sadistic Grimness before, at least not to my current recollection, and actually assumed this was the band’s debut album. Upon looking them up I realized this was their second album, and that the members certainly weren’t any spring chickens in the ways of metal. But nonetheless this is my first experience with the lads.

While I guess I’d chalk this up to another band in the new wave of Swedish old school death metal (if there wasn’t already such a label I’m instating it now) there’s a lot more to these compositions than just death metal. A huge load of black metal can be overheard in both riffing and vocal departments, just as some thrashing groove is being widely thrown about at times. The production is fairly crude, albeit in a good way since it retains a somewhat classic edge to it. Everything’s fully audible; from every drum beat to riffs from both guitar and bass. The audible bass adds a very heavy rumbling effect to the tunes, which I definitely appreciate.

The vocals carry a raspy blackish vibe that reminds me some of Sacramentum, coincidently I also do get some vibes of said band for the music as well. The particular vocal style makes the band stand out from the crowd, but unfortunately they have a tendency to use some clean spoken sections, and that just cheapens the whole idea and almost ruins great tracks, one in particular being "Pulsating darkness". I love the melodic razorsharp riffing, the fast tempo, the wicked breaks and then they piss all over it with the spoken shite. But there’s thankfully no pissing on the rest of the musicianship, and the guitar lines are most of the time very effective, the bass work is killer and the drumming leaves nothing more to wish for. The alternation between blasting and slowly chugging tempo, and not following the same recipe throughout every track, makes the album unpredictable.

A clear favourite song here is the title track, and I think much of it has to do with the fact that it’s the only track with Swedish lyrics. I love lyrics in bands native tongue, and here it adds an ominous chill to the song, which was already eerily creeping forward. Other than that the faster ones like "Rotting in solitude" and "Flames of desolation" really speaks to me with its unrelenting brutal approach. To tell you the truth I can’t say I’m all that thrilled about the first half of the album; it’s good but nothing exciting. It’s not until "Pulsating darkness" sets in that I really get into it and start to dig along for real. It’s a good album, but a bit of uneven in my book.

Originally written for http://www.mylastchapter.net

This Swedish hybrid of black, death and thrash metal has existed for nearly a decade, with a membership culled from other bands across the underground (Grief of Emerald, Diabolicum, etc). Asteni is their second full-length effort, with a style dispersed and surreal much like the odd choice in cover art (to be fair, the surreality of the image is cool, it's the imposition of the band and album logos which cheapens it).

At any rate, they wander a landscape of chugging bass, carnal black/death guitar scathing, and shifts from grinding intensity to a sparse discord created through the guitars. "Lieath" is a great example, some fine blasting which breaks down into a powerful wall of chords with a hybrid of growls and effective, creepy clean vocals. The title track opens with a creepy atmosphere composed of slowly building drums, syrup-like bass and simple, eerie guitar lines, erupting into a slow, grooving death/doom verse. "Rotting in Solitude" is simply ferocious, the bass is perfectly grinding and distorted and the breakdown death metal riffs are great. "Lower the Casket" is another rager, with some nice moments of chug and blast. There are a few tunes like "The Birth" which I didn't enjoy as much, the riffing was familiar and redundant, but even here, once the band slows down to a crawl the song improves.

The album is dowsed in a dark, damp feel which rounds out the disturbing versatility. Essentially Asteni is the roller coaster of a troubled mind, just as often rotting in despair as it is erupting in frantic anger. Though the bass is reminiscent of what is used in a lot of the Swedish old school death metal, it's a very important vehicle for this band's ghastly ruminations, I'd also consider it the central instrument of the better songs on the album. Sadistic Grimness have a pretty different style, conjuring a lot of dirty old school influence but channeling it into an effective, desolate concept.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

Sadistic Grimness, hailing from Sweden, is certainly a force to reckon with! With their aggressive, violent yet creepy blend of Black and Death Metal, they manage to produce some of the best tunes from the nowadays' Sweden. And while "Vicious Torture" was a great warmer for the band, "Asteni" is a true manifestation of their violent talent and skills!

First of all, "Asteni" certainly differs a lot from what they released before. But it's not a bad thing at all! I'd label this as Blackened Death Metal, associations would be Arkhon Infaustus, Vorkreist and, perhaps, Autopsy. Raw yet clean sound, riffs delivered with violent perfection, fantastic drumming and sick vocals! You can easily hear every note, but the production still retains some Old School quality to it, resulting in anhonest underground feeling to the whole product. Grim melodies, sometimes reminding of the band's somewhat Black Metal past, are perfectly combined with overall Death Metal approach, and it certainly brings Arkhon Infaustus in mind sometimes. But it is just an association, the band still has it's own sound and direction. Yes, sometimes it is very DARK, I mean really DARK and even creepy. It's like your blood freezes under your skin and millions of chills run down your spine. It is amazing. Standout tracks for me would be "Razormania" and "Spiritual Serenity". Starting with an eerie industrial sample, "Razormania" features some of the darkest riffs here! Great vocals, great lyrics and great composition make this song a perfect taster for the whole album. Myself I really enjoy the samples of razors clashing right before the chorus starts, it adds a lot to this song. "Spiritual Serenity" features a variety of tempos, from very slow to violent blastbeats, and what I would certainly note here - is clean and audible bass. What is more, it sounds downright amazing, making it essential here, which is very rare today.

Overall, I'd recommend this album to those, who enjoy abovementioned Arkhon Infaustus, Vorkreist and Autopsy, as well as Old School Death Metal (Asphyx, Pentacle, early Malevolent Creation and Dead Congregation) & today's Swedish Extreme Scene in general (like Repugnant and Kaamos). Also, I'd like to note, that this band features members of such bands, as Diabolicum and Kill, among others. This CD is certainly worth purchasing, you won't be disappointed. Definitely a killer album!