Dismember

Man, this long-standing Swedish band just make me want to smash stuff and bang my head. Their last album, Where Ironcrosses Grow was such an unexpected wake-up call it made me rant about it to anyone who would listen to me for months after its release. That album was a perfect mix of the legendary Swedish death metal crunch, hilariously chainsaw-like buzzing guitars and some melodic dual leads to keep things lively. With The God That Never Was, their seventh full-length, the band have actually gone for a bit of a rawer production sound, which is a bit shocking at first, but the guitar still retains the classic Swedish sound. Unfortunately, the album does plow along at a similar pace for most of its duration, making standout tracks kind of non-existent — spare one fucking awesome instrumental. But it all rocks: the tunes are still short, energetic, and goddamn alive; Dismember somehow manage to take death metal and make it completely enjoyable, like something that one could listen to at eight in the morning without beginning to scrawl out a suicide note.