Swedish Melodic Death Metal

At the Gates, Rotten Sound @ Nosturi (Helsinki), 22 Nov 2014

At War with Reality live. Who could pass up this opportunity? Well, not me. Especially with the chance to watch some of it through the lens. At the Gates showed in their recent Helsinki gig that no matter how long a great band takes between albums, that what you get live will have as much raw passion as the original crowd favourites. The night was accented by Rotten Sound's aggressively brilliant opening set.

At the Gates, Rotten Sound - Nosturi, Helsinki, 22/11/14

This year, At the Gates released their first new album in nineteen years. Hearing it performed live, in my new home of Helsinki, was something I was not going to miss. Opening up a night of excellent music, friends and memories were Vaasa's intensely brilliant Rotten Sound.

The first band I ever wrote about for Metal as Fuck was At the Gates. I’d won a ticket to see them in Melbourne through a competition the magazine was holding.

Nummirock - Day One, June 19th 2014, Nummijärvi, Kauhajoki, Finland

Nummirock is held over the crucial Finnish Juhannas holiday. Metalheads from all over head to the serene lakeside venue to set up camp and cry havoc for the long weekend. It's bugs, beer and bonfires. It's sauna with new friends, sauna with old friends and naked drunks wandering the campsites. It's moshpits, metal and most importantly, it's Midsummer. The opening evening was filled with Deals Death (SWE), Profane Omen (FIN), Speedtrap (FIN) and Kaunis Kuolematon (FIN).

Mum! Soilwork's drummer Dirk Verbeuren is swearing again...

Drum clinics in China; industrial electro and side-project mayhem...

Having just returned from a festival in Slovenia, Soilwork’s drummer Dirk Verbeuren is at home in Los Angeles, gathering his energy for next week, when the band st

Mikael Stanne from Dark Tranquillity: "I was a shitty, shitty guitar player!"

Mikael explains why extended puberty is important to the band...

Mikael Stanne, vocalist with melodic death metallers Dark Tranquillity, is enjoying the first days of summer in Gothenberg, Sweden.

October Tide – Tunnel of no Light (Pulverized)

The great melancholic tide.
Release Date: 
16 Apr 2013 - 12:30pm

October Tide is really in the forefront of the pack of Swedish doomish melancholic bands in the vein of Opeth and this time around they give us some complexity and

Björn Strid of Soilwork takes no compromises on The Living Infinite

Björn Strid explains the return of Scandinavian melancholy and the massive challenge of recording a double album with the ninth studio album from Soilwork, The Living Infinite ahead of their Australian tour this October.

When I connect through to Björn "Speed" Strid, I find out he has