Each time has its own trend when we are speaking about a specific Metal Genre. In the first half of the 80s, NWOBHM and Glam Metal had their prevalence, and on the second, Thrash Metal and Glam Metal. And during the beginning of the 90s, as Alternative Rock wiped out Glam Metal and Heavy Metal from the parade charts, Death Metal was regaining strength into the underground and starting to unleash the second wave. Those days had an amazing crush on many fans, so it’s not a surprise to see many bands trying to have a musical work in such ways. NEKRODAWN, from Sweden, is one of them, as heard on the band’s first full-length, “Sculpted by Torture”.

Jonas, the band’s singer and guitarist, is the one who signs the recording and mixing. The consequence is that the band had control on what they wanted from the sound quality: something modern that could define things (for the sake of the fans’ understanding), but using the classic tunes of Old School Death Metal. So it’s crude and harsh, but defined and really fitting on what the quartet plays. All these words are showing that the quartet plays a form of Death Metal that is classic, based on the formulas used on the old days of the turn of the 80s to the 90s, but under a modern feeling (what means that they known they’re not living in the past). But such good form of music, full of energy and honesty, is what one can expect of a band whose members has names as ENTOMBED A.D., HYPOCRISY, THE CROWN, CARNAL FORGE, SCAR SYMMETRY, GRAVE and others on their curriculums.

The songs are excellent, a rough dose of adrenaline for Death Metal fans, especially on moments “Emancipation from Defilement” (very good rhythmic contrasts, depicting a simple and strong rhythmic contrast), “Cataclysmic Wrath” (furious blast beats and amazing guitar riffs and gross solos are heard here), “Raging Tempest Arise” (a load of Swedish Old School Death Metal can be heard on this one, especially on the ways of the grunted tunes of the vocals contrasting with snarls), “Sacred Termination” (excellent slow and nasty parts), “Obsessed with Fatality” (again very good and catching slow rhythms are heard on the album), and “Sculpted by Torture”.

As a first release, “Sculpted by Torture” shows the honest ways of NEKRODAWN. But it’s not a sin to bet that these guys have some hidden aces in their sleeves for the future.