Hidden Gems & Guilty Pleasures: Murder Squad (Sweden)
Photo credit: NecrosHorns
Murder Squad (Death Metal // Sweden)
Hailing from Stockholm, Sweden, Murder Squad is the side project of Entombed guitarist Ulf Cederlund and drummer Peter Stjärvind with Dismember members Matti Kärki on vocals and Richard Cabeza on bass.
In 2001, death metal had been in steady decline for many years. The genre once gloriously notorious for stillbirthing some of the vilest filth imaginable had been watered down by harmlessness and mediocrity. It was exactly at this time that Murder Squad breathed much-needed foul air into a scene so desperately lacking dirt and danger.
Spawned by members of some of the most revered Swedish death metal bands (Entombed, Dismember, Merciless, Disfear, Morbid etc.) and driven by their shared passion for intoxication and, above all, American death metal band Autopsy, the four Swedes would go on to vomit forth two full-lengths and one EP before withdrawing into the nasty hole they crawled out from.
»Unsane, Insane And Mentally Deranged«:
Right off the bat, while the first riffs blare out of the speakers, Murder Squad make it unmistakably clear that they don’t give a damn about originality or sophistication. Sonically almost entirely influenced by Autopsy – which had been split-up for six years at the time the album was released – and their depraved legacy, Murder Squad are instead devoted to paying tribute to San Francisco’s most foul and deranged. Unsurprisingly, given the Swedes history and experience, they pull it off very convincingly. Although, their vey fittingly titled full-length zealously and unabashedly worships at the altar of Autopsy, the Swedish weirdos do so without lacking style.
»Ravenous Murderous«:
Again, adorned by a disgustingly beautiful cover by the late Timo Ketola, Murder Squad’s second album, »Ravenous Murderous«, from 2003 still has Autopsy-worship written all over it. But while the predecessor was literally made up of riffs that were almost identical or at least very similar to the ones found in Autopsy tracks, »Ravenous Murderous« feels more like an unreleased Autopsy album than a different band paying tribute to Autopsy. This time around Murder Squad have even been supported in the studio by legendary Chris Reifert of Autopsy himself contributing vocals, guitars and drums. These joined efforts resulted in a very dark death metal album coming with pleasantly politically incorrect lyrics certain to upset today’s moral police.
For the very first time ever, both legendary albums »Unsane, Insane And Mentally Deranged« and »Ravenous Murderous« will be available on vinyl! Of course, both titles will also be released on CD and MC, alongside the long-awaited return of the »Human Genocide / Blackness Within« 7″ EP. Pre-order through Darkness Shall Rise Productions HERE.
Courtesy of Darkness Shall Rise Productions
Discography:
• »Unsane, Insane And Mentally Deranged« LP (Pavement Music, 2001)
• »Ravenous Murderous« LP (Threeman Recordings, 2003)
• »Human Genocide / Blackness Within« EP (Wolfsbane Records, 2013)
Murder Squad is:
Matti Kärki (Dismember) – Vocals
Ulf Cederlund (Entombed, Morbid, Disfear) – Guitars
Richard Cabeza (Dismember, Unanimated) – Bass
Peter Stjärnvind (Merciless, ex-Entombed) – Drums
FFO: Autopsy, Dismember, Death Breath, Entombed, Abscess, Grave, Unleashed, Bolt Thrower, Funebre, Nihilist
Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well