Every once in a while, there is an itch in the back of my brain, and the only way to scratch it is to listen to Swedish Death Metal. With such luck, into my ears goes the full-length debut of Imperishable, appropriately named, Come, Sweet Death (Hammerheart Records). Blistering, chainsaw-like guitar riffs with epic leads, relentless drum work, and harsh raspy vocals is everything to expect from that sweet Gothenburg flavor of death metal. This scorcher of an album hardly lets up across the thirty-eight-minute blaze and will be sure to leave you either exhausted or ready to jump out of an airplane.

Come, Sweet Death starts off immediately with ‘Venomous’ which opens up after an ominous intro lead right to the proverbial gas pedal. The short-lived guitar lead breaks plus the solo that has just enough wankery to stay in your head for the following few hours, stamp into the brain. ‘The Phantasm’ is an absolute ripper until halfway through when Imperishable breaks it down for the rest of the song. I can see this being a pit favorite should it make the setlist at shows. ‘Fangs’ makes its way into the track-listing to offer some good ol’ two-stepping section in the mix after opening with an eerie church bell. Eventually, the usual death metal elements seen on the rest of the album creep back into existence.

If Swedish death metal is something that a listener already enjoys, this will be a quick add to their playlists. While not inventing anything new or earth-shattering, the execution is very good. Finding new, good death metal nowadays can be quite the chore as we sift through Bandcamp on the first Friday of most months – Imperishable is evidently here to make that chore a little bit easier for you, starting with Come, Sweet Death.

Buy the album here:

https://imperishable.lnk.to/comesweetdeath

7 / 10

TIM LEDIN