There have been some great Swedish /HM2 style death metal releases in 2022; Necrom, Entrails, Demonical, Katakomba, Sentient Horror, and Ripped to Shreds Disfuneral, have all released killer albums so far this year. But this autumn, a few more releases will drop and compete for your hard-earned cash. Back in September, Tampa Bay’s Carnal Ruin released the solid Soulless I Remain, we recently got Ripped to Shred’s Jubian, and later this autumn we will get Carnal Savagery‘s new album, a Maceration reunion album, the new effort from France’s Iron Flesh and Sweden’s In Pain will release their second effort.

In Pain has been a notable band for me as they, like Entrails, were kicking around back in the 90s, but never really did much until they finally got their shit together and release an album in 2019,The Sound of Death,  and even more notable for me is that they use the originator of the ‘The Swedish Sound’, Tomas Skogsberg, as their producer (though he does not appear on the cover as he did with the The Sound of Death). And listen, before symphonic deathcore become my new kink,  literally anything with ‘that’ sound got me harder than a California redwood.

So here is the follow-up album, with a shorter wait than we had for the debut, and it meets my expectations like I knew it would. Like The Sound of Death, this is perfectly executed Swedish death metal that culls from the expected peers like Entombed, Dismember, and Grave, though it leans a little heavier into the chunkier, groovier Grave sound. And of course it sounds amazing with a thick, buzzing, organic Skogberg tone.

Simply listen to the standout opener “Predators of Death” and take in the thick opening riff as well as the utterly killer late song trundle, oh my- utter perfection (insert Michael Fassbender/Magneto “perfection meme here). The second track “Mistress of the Dark” delivers a slower, doomier take with a Bolt Thrower -ish gait and pace before “Witchcraft” delivers a more intense pace with a simply killer classic, genre canter – you’ll know the one I’m talking about when you hear it. “Midnight Rituals” does a little of everything, with a little moodiness thrown in, and “Kill” delivers a superb mid-paced romp. “Decapitated By Lightning” is another standout with a huge lumbering double bass-filled riff to die for. “Cannibal Feast” picks up the pace again as does “The Beast Within” which has a little Clandestine aura to it.

There’s not much else to say really. If you are a fan of the genre, you need this. It’s supplanted Katakomba’s self-titled album as my second favorite album of the year in the genre after Necrom’s All Paths Are Left Here…

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