Description
Swedish flag edition with a yellow and blue split vinyl with insert. Limited 200 copies
Splenium For Nyktophobia was the debut album from Uncanny, from Avesta, Sweden. This is actually a rather unique and excellent slab of Swedish death metal. The band’s sound is confident; typical of Swedish death metal but never too typical. It’s really a breath of fetid air to hear a band experiment within the established style of a genre and pull it off with aplomb. Make no mistake about it; Uncanny are definitely Swedish, the national traits of the old Swedish scene are all here. There’s a heavy punk influence here (stronger than most, as made evident by the old hardcore cover here) but also it’s also very melodic. If the typical Swedish death metal band is somewhat punky and quite happy to use consonant melodies, then, Uncanny are sometimes very punky and often really melodic. This album is like a glorious celebration of everything that the old Swedish scene had; the (ever)flowing melodies, the d-beats and that world-beating guitar sound all mixed together in one big melting pot. But what’s more is that they use these familiar ingredients to make something unique. The lion’s share of the praise here should go to Fredrik Norrman – whose handiwork can also be hear on the classic October Tide record, Rain Without End – as he really is an excellent guitarist. Everything he does is just so perfectly appropriate for the style; measured and yet still energetic. He knows when to use those austere brutish, hardcore-inspired riffs and when to really cut loose with a melodic lead. And best of all he’s never really content to coast by on the Boss HM guitar sound, either! Indeed, because of his sterling performance you’d never confuse Uncanny with one of the also-rans of the scene (who would perhaps sound like a cross between Entombed and Dismember). Uncanny occupy a fruitful middle ground between the more meat ‘n’ potatoes Swedeath bands (Grave, for a stark example) and the more progressive, off-the-wall types, like At The Gates and Liars In Wait. They’re not afraid to experiment but they’re also not obsessed by it like some death metal bands are. Take ‘Timeless’ for a fine example; it’s a weird, riff-driven instrumental with lots of keyboards and interesting guitar textures… and yet, at the same time, it’s still definitely Swedish death metal. Sometimes, it doesn’t work as the Godflesh-esque industrial metal track clearly shows. But then again, it’s probably better than Godflesh themselves. Overall, it seems to me that Uncanny have struck a perfect balance between experimentation and more conventional Swedeath sounds. So, in conclusion, I would recommend this album to people who think Left Hand Path and Into the Grave are “too simplistic”. On the other hand, however, those people are dumb and don’t deserve legitimately great death metal.
Track list:
1. Elohim
2. Tales From The Tomb
3. Brain Access
4. Timeless
5. Screaming In Phobia
6. Enkelbiljetten-G-Anx cover
7. Indicatio Vitalis
8. Soul Incest
9. Spräng Skiten
10. Towards The Endless Throne
11. Lepra
12. The Final Conflict
13. Splenium For Nyktophobia