Nirvana 2002

There must be something about using the word "nirvana" in one's moniker that results in creative impact. Clearly not the band that arguably saved/killed rock music in the '90s, depending on one's stance, this Swedish trio bearing were just as elemental on their genre as the American three-piece were for theirs. Formed in the late '80s by a group of young men wanting to push the boundaries of extremity, their sound contained the building blocks for future Gothenburg death metal: grinding, bellowing vocals coupled with hammering guitars and offset double/half-time drums. It's the exact formula Entombed later copped and popularized but here we hear it in its formative stages. Naturally, the rawer the better and with Recordings 89-91, it doesn't get any baser. Thick and raspy, while just barely escaping the tinniness of garage recordings despite the updated mixes, this brutal, bare-bones affair is a necessity in understanding and appreciating the legacy of true Swedish death metal.