EP REVIEW: Madness Comes – Grand Cadaver

There’s no question that old school death metal is experiencing a bit of a renaissance at the moment. It also doesn’t seem to be slowing down. This year has already had some excellent OSDM releases from the likes of FROZEN SOUL and GATECREEPER. Now, GRAND CADAVER are here to throw their name into the hat with their debut EP, Madness Comes.

While the band itself is relatively new, its members boast their fair share of combined experience. GRAND CADAVER unites musicians from across the Swedish metal scene, who, in their own words, have come together to “celebrate the history of extreme music.” Among them are current and former members of DARK TRANQUILITY, KATATONIA, NOVARUPTA, and more. The band recorded the record over just three days, during which they shared beers and riffs to produce a result as enjoyable as you might expect from such a process.

The EP opens with its crushing title track, and from the start it’s hard not to hear shades of the band’s countrymen ENTOMBED. This is particularly true of the guitars of Stefan Lagergren and Alex Stjernfeldt. Together, they do a great job of capturing that iconic buzzsaw sound – something which razors the entire record. Their playing is a consistent highlight as well. Every track on Madness Comes features plenty of massive, head-banging riffs. There’s also some solid lead work, perhaps most of all on Staff Of The Oppressor.

Madness Comes is of a pretty consistent standard. The band don’t show much interest in being particularly innovative, but all four tracks are solid in their own right. Third track Blood-filled Skies is probably the overall highlight. Of the record’s many gigantic riffs, this one features perhaps the biggest headbanger of all. As with the other tracks, it also benefits from some solid production which adds a real crushing quality to the band’s OSDM sound.

Surely the biggest name to feature on this EP is that of DARK TRANQUILITY‘s Mikael Stanne. His work here is less melodic than that of his day job, but he still gives a solid performance. Opting pretty much entirely for guttural and abrasive vocals, it’s a good fit with GRAND CADAVER‘s no-frills heaviness. Behind him and the guitarists sit PAGANDOM bassist Christian Jansson and drummer Daniel Liljekvist of DISRUPTED. These two definitely play more of a background role, but it’s clear they both know what they’re doing. Liljekvist‘s drums add real heft to the stompier sections, while tracks like Fields Of The Undying give him a chance to show off his faster chops. Jansson‘s bass slots into the mix nicely, tying everything together with his lumbering low-end.

With a 13-minute runtime, Madness Comes is short and sweet. Its length means it doesn’t really matter that there isn’t much in the way of dynamic variation. Nor is it a problem that the record doesn’t exactly break new ground. This is clearly the work of a group of friends with a love for all things heavy. It does exactly what it says on the tin, and while none of GRAND CADAVER‘s members are likely to make this into their full-time gig, it’s hard to begrudge them for making some productive usage of their down-time. When the results are this much fun, why shouldn’t they?

Rating: 7/10

Madness Comes is out now via Majestic Mountain Records.

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