Tribulation

Not to be confused with an earlier Swedish band who produced a few crossover thrash releases during the early ’90s, this new millennium group named Tribulation formed in 2004 and spent the next few years experimenting with various extreme styles before settling on a speedy brand of death metal embellished with horror-themed lyrics. Claiming to be influenced by ’80s legends such as Autopsy and Morbid Angel, vocalist/bassist Johannes Andersson, guitarists Jonathan Hultén and Adam Zaars, and subsequently acquired drummer Jakob Johansson tipped their hand with 2006′s Putrid Rebirth EP (released through indie Blood Harvest), then toured regionally before getting to work on their eventual full-length debut, The Horror, released in early 2009 through Pulverised Records. A sophomore effort, The Formulas of Death, arrived in 2013, followed in 2015 by Children of the Night, the latter of which saw the band eschewing the death metal approach of prior outings for a more occult-driven, goth, psychedelic, and traditional heavy metal oeuvre. The similarly progressive and theatrical Down Below arrived in 2018, followed by the group’s first concert LP, Alive & Dead at Sodra Teatern, in 2019. For their fifth studio album, 2021′s Where the Gloom Becomes Sound, the band focused on the themes of myths and magic. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia