Awesome Swedish Metal Bands (Part 1)

So, since I’ve mentioned in past posts that one of the things that first got me interested in Sweden was its bad ass metal bands, I thought I’d do a little compilation of my favorites :) Some people might not know it, but Swedish music isn’t just famous for Abba.

Within the metal communities, Sweden is very respected, and deemed responsible (with a little bit of help from England) for giving a start to Melodic Death Metal. This style is based in harsh screaming, clean harmonies, and death growls, and was originated in Gothenburg; for which I’m pretty grateful, because it’s one of my favorite sub-genres.

Today I’ll tell you about 5 of my favorites, in no specific order. Do take into consideration that I am by no means a music critic and my only philosophy about it is enjoying what I enjoy, therefore my little reviews won’t be particularly detailed :)

Opeth

Funnily enough, my favorite Opeth song is actually a cover from another band, but don’t let this talk to you about the quality of their own music. Opeth is mostly progressive metal, dabbing into several other genders, creating a very melodic and sometimes sad atmosphere. They are even well recognized in their homeland, and have been in Swedish charts several times.

Thyrfing

Ahhh, Thyrfing! Most definitely one of my top bands. They make some delicious Viking Metal, at times mixed with some Black. Their melodies are quite catchy, and many of their songs are in Swedish, which apart from making it sound even cooler, also helps me practice my language skills. And to be honest, it’s almost impossible for me to listen their music without dancing a little bit :D

Pain of Salvation

Being completely honest, I’m not such a huge fan of this Progressive Metal band. However, they do have a song that I absolutely love. When I discovered this song, I catalogued it as the most beautiful set of sounds I had heard in a while, which compensates for all their others that I very much dislike. And, which now makes me think I should really give another listen to their work, since their capacity to create a song that causes such strong feelings for me must mean they should also be capable of creating more music that I like. But that will be for later, I’ll let you know how it goes.

Sabaton

Sabaton are an awesome Power Metal band, who instead of singing about fantasy, subscribe to narrate real life battles and events, as they “Think history has a lot more interesting things happening than fiction” (I can’t actually find the interview where their vocalist said that, but I’m sure he did). I had the chance to see them live and they have a very energetic show.

Scar Symmetry

Scar Symmetry, one of the bands that first got me into metal. Melodeath, of course. Very melodic. Powerful, and the old singer has a beautifully velvety voice. So go ahead and listen to some of that, I highly doubt you would dislike it!

Aaaaand that’s it for today. I hope you liked some of the bands, and if you did, I recommend buying their albums and supporting good music :D

[Disclaimer: None of the videos are mine!]

Now, any recommendations from you? Tell me about Swedish bands/artists that you like :D Maybe some of them will be on my next posts!