Taking a cue fromm/swedesplease/status/25982192596">Swedesplease to focus your attention on mother of the Forest and his new EP "Ryka i ro", which was m/n/35309-mother-of-the-forest-ryka-i-ro">recently posted for free download motheroftheforest.blogspot.com/2010/09/ep03ryka-i-ro.html" target="_blank">here. As Craig rightfully points out, this is for fans of creative music that takes risks and is far, far more exciting than the typically mediocre guitar rock that gets sent my way. It also helps that it fits in nicely with a lot of the other similarly minded goth/industrial clatter I've been listening to as of late. As for a more direct comparison, Sällskapet comes to mind, though mother of the Forest is much weirder, taking far more influence fromThe Bear Quartet's noisier efforts. As if it wasn't obvious by having matti provide guest vocals. Anyhow, mother of the Forest is great and the EP is free, so you really can't go wrong. Listen and help spread the word!
There has been an increase in the retro death metal style in recent years; new bands strive to create an old sound while old bands relinquish their new sound and attempt to revert back to the halcyon days of death metal. Stockholm's Bastard Priest fall under the first category and are one of the few out there who actually sound properly old-school in every manner. Some may say they emulate the Swedish output of the late-'80s, but it seems to me there's something in there that's more akin to an amalgam of the likes of "Scream bloody gore", "Consuming impulse", and "morbid visions" with a hefty nod towards their fellow countrymen from back in the day. There's a definite attitude on here that was only ever really captured in the Swedish death metal explosion of the late-'80s and there is, without doubt, the definite punk influence that also permeated the scene back then. Definitely one of the best retro bands around today and so authentic that I almost find myself surprised to come out of the listening experience and find that it's not 1989. - John Norby