A couple of months ago, my drummer discovered this new, young death metal band from Sweden called Tribulation, and he just wouldn’t shut up about how good they were. I would always stop him and say, “The only Swedish death metal that matters these days is Death Breath.” But he was undeterred and kept raving about this band.

Then, a few weeks ago, I was going through a pile of promo CDs in MetalKult’s offices, and I happened to find the very same Tribulation album that my drummer was praising, The Horror (Pulverised Records). So I thought, What the hell, and I gave it a listen. And you know what? My drummer was right: Tribulation can play the shit out of some real death metal. I was so excited by their sound that I immediately went out and bought the full-art CD and vinyl edition, as well.

As many of my colleagues will tell you, I worship old-school death and thrash metal. In my opinion, old-school death metal is thrash metal, but with more extreme tempos (see: Obituary and Autopsy) and extremely gory lyrics. Tribulation’s sound exists in just that realm: pure, brutal Swedish death/thrash. To top things off, the band delivers lyrics that would make Danzig proud and creates killer, atmospheric ambience a la Entombed’s legendary Left Hand Path.

The Horror kicks off with the short intro “Into the Jaws of Hell” before ripping right into the first proper cut “Crypt of Thanatophilia.” It’s evident from the first few riffs that these young guns are extremely well grounded in their thrash roots, and, unlike many young bands these days, Tribulation know how to write memorable, meaty riffs.

Vocalist/bassist Johannes Andersson avoids the typical low, grunt-like death metal vocal style, and instead executes higher-pitched raspy growls. Guitarists Jonathan Hultén and Adam Zaars’ playing is exceptionally tight (given the speed of the songs), but the truly notable thing about the pair is its highly vicious guitar tone. The band is rounded out by drummer Jakob Johansson, whose in-the-pocket approach adds the perfect amount of fills and accents to complement the guitarists.

Since the songs on the album are similar in execution and tempo, I didn’t begin to pick out distinct characteristics until my second and third listens. Some of my favorite cuts include “The Vampyre,” “Spawn of the Jackal” (which features a great slow-paced intro riff) and the closing track “Graveyard Ghouls,” which is a full-on, no-nonsense assault.

Lastly, I must give extra props to Zaars and Hultén who also contributed some really outstanding art to The Horror. It seems like Tribulation (much like Watain’s Trident Arts and Death Breath’s Nicke Andersson) have their own art department, called Necromantic Art. I recommend getting The Horror on vinyl, not just because the sound quality is better, but so that you can really dig into the ghastly images. Dark art, memorable riffs and ripping Swedish death metal…what’s better than that! —Henry Yuan