Various

If you have no trace of Swedish blood in your veins, the concept behind this comp may seem completely ridiculous: Swedish hard rock and metal folk of today paying tribute to the Swedish hard rock and metal folk of days gone by. But, the weirdest thing about this retrospective is that a good chunk of it works. Of course, there's a fair amount of utter pig dander to turn off any self-respecting music fan. I mean, does the world really need anyone paying any kind of tribute to the musical atrocities that Yngwie Malmsteen and Europe unleashed upon the Earth? I'm quite sure the music of Swedish "legends" like Treat, Stillborn, Agony and Trash don't need anymore airings than need be, but when the likes of In Flames, Entombed and Gooseflesh work their personal magic on the originals, the result is quite sweet. Also, keep an ear peeled for the Crown, who do a bang-up job with Bathory's "Burnin' Leather" and the Haunted's Slayer-isation (literally!) of Candlemass' "Well of Souls".