Author: Fernando

Maceration started as a project of two Invocator members (Jakob Schultz and Jacob Hansen), joined by Rune Hansen and Lars Bangsholt. They are regarded as the first band playing death metal in Denmark and their debut live gig, opening for Darkthrone (still playing death metal back then) in 1990 is a piece of the Scandinavian genre, that went straight to tape (“Official Live Tape 1990”) and was heavily traded by avid death metal fans since then.

On their debut album “A Serenade of Agony” Dan Swanö (Edge Of Sanity, Bloodbath) did the vocals using his famous pseudonym Day Disyraah. Dan Swanö and Jacob Hansen left the band after the CD was released. Lars Bangsholt and Jakob Schultz got a new line-up and played several shows in Denmark and Holland with acts such as Gorguts, Blasphemy, Dominus, Deadhead, Konkhra etc., until the band eventually split up in 1993. 

In 2021, however, there were some signs of life for Maceration again. Their mythical 1990 live gig opening for Darkthrone was the subject of a book (“Incombustible Remains (Dengang Darkthrone Spillede Koncert I Esbjerg I 1990”, written by Danish author Benni Bødker), that was released together with a CD featuring the live recordings of that night, remastered by Marco Angioni at Angioni Studios. Shortly after, a limited vinyl reissue of the live recordings, titled “Live Disfigurements”, was also released. A new studio album is confirmed to be released in 2022 as well, with original members Jakob Schultz and Lars Bangsholt featured in the recording line-up.

Shortly, after a reissue of their only album so far, “A Serenade Of Agony”, was also announced. It was be released on CD, limited vinyl and digital formats, with the CD including some amazing 11 bonus tracks, from the band’s unofficial 1990 rehearsal tape tracks, the 1990 demo tracks and two unreleased live songs.

In September 2022 the news spread like a wildfire: Maceration has recorded a new studio album, featuring again the mighty Dan Swanö as a singer, and was fully back to action. “It Never Ends…” was released on November 2022 and was an effective return to the scene by the Danes. 

The band’s third album “Serpent Devourment” will be released on 31 January 2025. Again, Dan Swanö has played an important role in the creation as producer and the man behind the mix in his Unisound studio. 

But this time he has not recorded the vocals. Maceration’s regular lead singer Jan Bergmann Jepsen (ex. Cor Vacante) has done the recording duties and he leaves no doubt after he has taken over the vocals on the new recordings. Jan Bergmann has been with Maceration live since the resurrection in 2022 and on some tracks on “It Never Ends” in a duet with Swanö, but now he is alone at the front. With a deep, growling and brutal vocal style, he is the perfect successor to Swanö and he carves this into stone on the new album.

Ten brand new tracks are what will be served on “Serpent Devourment”. Brutality, speed and heaviness are the key words for all tracks, but also melody and catchy riffs and choruses characterize Maceration’s tracks as always. This applies to the heavy riffs in the title track and “Where Leeches Thrive” and the fast easily recognizable themes in “The Den of Misery” or the triplet based aggressive main riff in “A Corrosive Heart Fell Below”. 

The whole new album is a varied creature, with fast death metal attacks like “The Suffering” and “For The End Alone” over heavy “Revolt The Tyrant Dream”, “In Rot Unleashed” or “Emptiness Embraced”. Fans of Maceration will nod in recognition to the band’s hallmarks and style, while new listeners will be embraced by stylish, brutal and aggressive old school death metal that has references back to the forefathers of death metal and also from the members’ previous bands such as Invocator, Spectral Mortuary and Corpus Mortale.
 
In addition to singer Jan Bergmann Jepsen, the band consists of Jakob Schultz – guitarist and main composer and only original member who was also previously in the renowned Danish band Invocator. Rune Koldby is a bass player with years of experience in Danish metal bands such as Exmortem and Spectral Mortuary, while the drums are handled by Nicolai Kaltoft (ex. Corpus Mortale) and Robert Tengs is the rhythm guitarist.

“Serpent Devourment” is out now on LP (black vinyl limited to 300 copies and light blue vinyl, limited to 200), CD and digital via Emanzipation Productions. 

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