I think few would disagree that during the golden era of early 90’s death metal, in the Swedish/Stockholm scene, that the influence and legacy of the big four; Entombed, Dismember, Grave and Unleashed is undeniable. However, there was a second tier of talented bands that for any number of reasons (lack of promotion, style change, breaking up, lack of recorded output) that just never quite reached the levels of their peers; Séance, God Macabre, Gorement, Ceremonial Oath, Desecrator, Afflicted, Uncanny and Cemetery to mention just a few.

I mention Cemetery, because when Evocation formed in 1991, they had members of the not yet Goth driven Cemetery in its ranks. And their two demos (recently re-released) had a tangible Cemetery (circa An Evil Shade of Grey) vibe, and now reformed after 15 years or so and still with one Cemetery member, that sound is still present and with the aptly titled Tales From the Tomb, Evocation deliver arguably the best classic, Stockholm styled Swedish death metal album since the more homage styled likes of Bloodbath, God Among Insects and Chaosbreed-and that includes Dismember and Grave’s recent offerings.

Yeah-it’s that good.

Replete with Dan Seagrave cover art and a classic self produced ‘Sunlight’ guitar tone (whatever is Tomas Skogsberg doing nowadays?), Evocation is pure old school death metal; light on the blast beats, heavy on the dense, crawling, catchy riffs and grimy melodies. As if the spot on cover of Entombed’s own “But Life Goes On” wasn’t enough to convince you, the bands self penned tracks like “The Dead”, “Chronic Hell”, “Greed”, “Blessed Upon the Altar” (which sounds a little like “But Life Goes On”), “The Symbol of Sins” and “Phase of Fear” simply drip the classic Left Hand Path styled Nihilist/Entombed vibe. There’s also the obvious Cemetery sound (“Veils Were Blown”, “Feed the Fire”-which also has some Dismember strains) and hints of Gothenburg NWSDM influence (“From Menace to Mayhem”, “The More We Bleed” and the slightly higher pitched vocals), which isn’t surprising as Evocation actually hail from Gothenburg.

In all, if you at all consider yourself a fan of death metal’s golden era and sound and are sick of all the overporduced, clicky, blasting tech death thats all the rage, you need this record-simply listening to it will make your jeans suddenly stonewashed, your hair grow into a mullet, your feet sprout big white sneakers, and your hands throw the horns.

Fuck Yes.

[Visit the band's website]

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