Author: Fernando

“Blasphemica – Absolution Carved From Flesh” will be released on LP (black vinyl, limited to 300) and digital formats via Emanzipation Productions on October 27th, 2023. 

One of the most important US death metal bands alongside Deicide & Morbid Angel, Brutality  from Tampa, Fl. has been devastating the underground since 1986

In 1988 they released their first demo “Brutality” which gained them recognition in the underground fanzines.

Their 2nd demo “Dimension Demented” was recorded in 1990 releasing a 7-inch EP on Gore Records called “Hell on Earth”.

1991 saw the release of “Metamorphosis” a cassette EP that received worldwide distribution on Wild Rags Records.

After necessary lineup changes in 1992, the band propelled forward and into the studio to record a new demo. The band utilized this demo to shop for a record deal and found interest from many different labels. They signed with Nuclear Blast Records and released a 2-song, 7-inch EP called “Sadistic”.

Brutality’s first album “Screams of Anguish” was released in 1993. They toured with Hypocrisy in Europe and crushed venues with their dark metal riffs.

The band’s 2nd album “When The Sky Turns Black” was released in 1994. The release of “When The Sky Turns Black” spawned a European-wide venture where they toured with Bolt Thrower & Cemetery.

With continued efforts to improve their sound and direction, additional lineup changes were made in 1995 and they started writing their 3rd album “In Mourning”. This, their 3rd and most recent album was released in 1996.

After years of success Brutality’s band members decided to disband, to pursue personal gain with family and their careers.

All three of Brutality albums were re-mastered and released in 2008 on Metal Mind Productions with unreleased bonus tracks.

Mid-2012 Brutality reformed and released the EP “Ruins Of Humanity” on CD in the US and on 7″ep vinyl in Europe through Mighty Music.

The comeback album “Sea Of Ignorance” was released in the States and South America through the band’s own label in 2016. In May 2017 the album did finally get a proper release through Mighty Music in Europe on CD, LP and digital.

Come May 2019 and the band announced a new record deal with Emanzipation Productions.

In October 2020, however, the band announced they were going to split up. Emanzipation Productions got in touch right away to see if Brutality were interested in releasing a “swansong” album before they were done for good. The band was renitent at the beginning but were slowly convinced to work on a new release, amidst all Covid madness. Two new songs were already written, to which Brutality added two old tracks, re-recorded in 2018 for a limited self-released 7″ EP. To complete the release, four tracks recorded live at the Maryland Death Fest in 2019 were also added. The final result is “Sempiternity”, the new Brutality record, released in May 2022. Will it be their last? 

Line-up:

Web:
www.brutalitytheband.com/
www.facebook.com/BrutalityTheBand/
twitter.com/tampabrutality

Toxaemia has been around since January 1989, one of the pioneering bands of Swedish death metal. They made some line-up changes but the core is still intact. In three years the band has managed to record two demos and two 7” Eps. Unfortunately, Toxaemia never released the second EP, since they played and released material until 1992 when, for various reasons, took a break. It just happened they practiced less and less and eventually, it just stopped. Life stepped in and all the members left Motala. It was to be 25 years before they were all back living in the same town again. Once that happened it didn’t take them long to reform!

Toxaemia reformed in 2017 and started playing some old tunes and writing new material. Initially, it was all just to have some laughs and play some music again. The band members took it all slow and started rehearsing a little bit. Slowly they started to gel again musically. Some of the musicians had not touched their instruments since 1992 when they quit playing.

In September 2018 Toxaemia got an offer to play a local Extreme Metal Festival – Bomber Fest (Winter Edition) in thir hometown Motala on the 29th of December. This was the spark needed to light the fire in their hearts. They wrote three new songs and relearned some old tunes, and started practicing like crazy. But still, there was something missing and mid-November was when their new lead guitar player Rasmus Axelsson joined Toxaemia.

The 29th of December came and they were set to Headline a four-day festival, and after what felt like a very long day. They took the stage just before midnight and released all the band’s energy and soul into the set in front of a sold-out Bomber Bar in Motala. After this Dennis Johansson joined the band on vocals as they commited to being the best Toxaemia they could possibly can. About two weeks before Scandinavia Deathfest they found out that their friend and drummer Emil could not perform with them anymore. This was a decision not taken lightly and no shadow falled on Emil, all the band stood behind him in that. So the five-piece managed to secure the services of Perra Karlsson on drums and recorded their proper full album, “Where Paths Divide”, released by Emanzipation Records in November 2020, much to all Swedish death metal fans delight.

Fast forward four years, and Toxaemia is going stronger and ever. Emil Norrman is back in form and into the line-up, and a new studio album, titled “Rejected Souls Of Kerberus”, is recorded and ready to be released in November. The five-piece worked with Dan Swanö once again for the mixing and mastering of the album as both the band and the fans were extremely satisfied with the work he did on “Where Paths divide”. Also, this time around, like last time, the Swedes have drawn two songs from the archives of their old demos: ”Beyond the Realm” and ”Tragedies Through Centuries”. Also, a cover song is present for the first time on a Toxaemia album: Dismember and their ”I Saw Them Die”. 

The result: a pure Swedish death metal bastard. 

Despite Toxaemia having chosen more of a modern sound than the last album, the choice made it an overall heavier sounding record. The band also wanted to make sure that they incorporated a lot of variation to give the record the extra edge it needed to top “Where Paths Divide”. In addition to that, friend and founding member Emil Norrman added his own unique and very core Toxaemia sound into the mix giving “Rejected Souls Of Kerberus” an end result that every fan of death metal will revel into.

Line-up:
Pontus Cervin – bass 
Emil Norrman – drums
Stevo Bolgakov – guitars, vocals
Dennis Johansson – vocals
Anton Petrovic – guitars

Web:
https://www.facebook.com/ToxaemiaSweden