On the fifth album, Puteraeon proves that Swedish death metal can always sound fresh and raw and doesn’t have to sound like Dismember or Entombed. At first, I didn’t know what to expect from the band because the current wave of Swedish death metal has become too dull for my taste; fortunately, the band delivers a staggering level of creativity on this album that will make you think otherwise.

Puteraeon was formed in 2008 by Jonas Lindblood (vocals, guitars), Rune Foss (guitars), Anders Malmström (drums), and Daniel Vandija (bass guitar). The consistent lineup has released four brutal studio albums. Musically, they don’t sound like Demonical or Entrails, and this album follows a different and fresh formula to work out the quality of the composition.

The opening instrumental intro “Miskatonic Expedition” was enough to convince me of the band’s songwriting direction and musical intellect. The band utilizes gloomy guitars, which bring a brooding feeling as if the music walks you through a novella.

“The Land of Cold Eternal” is a brutal track that begins with powerful bass lines, savage riffing, and the drums showcasing its talent with the drum fills, double bass pedals that are layered by bleak and dismal guitar textures. Mixing aggression and Swedish death metal brutality, the drums pummel you with blast beats and keep the rapid tone of this song between heavy guitar chugs and dark chord patterns on “Remnants”.

The bone-breaking trademark of the band continues to churn out putrid filth. On “Horror on the Antarctic Plateau”, highlighting the varied guitar styles of Puteraeon, from the blasting drums to the inhuman growls and riffing heaviness right before the blasting sections pulverize you to ashes. Taking influences from classic death metal bands and even death doom, firmly rooted in the style of Bolt Thrower and Asphyx.

Puteraeon maintains brutality through firm song structure, with the songs mostly played in mid-tempo with some eerie and frightening guitar moments topped by monstrous growling. The opening riff to “Nameless City” is brutal and shows how the quartet maintains the Lovecraftian themes to create atmosphere with an epic touch of the lead guitar.

The piano intro for the “Gods of Unhallowed Space” was even more surprising. Puteraeon shows that their death metal brand can be varied. The song takes a mid-paced tempo through intense drumming and dual growling, while the guitar infuses a slow, gloomy dirge. The energetic tempo bursts on the following song, “The Rise of the Shoggoths”, before the churning riff breaks into fury.

The final two tracks, “Watchers at the Abyss”, deliver total carnage. The buzz-saw riffing, brutal drumming that moves through fiery explosive dynamics, chainsaw riffing, and sweltering rhythms backed by powerful chugging.

Some of the songs are atmospheric at times; the fifth studio album, “Mountains of Madness“, was mixed and remastered by Dan Swanö. The final track, “I am the Darkness”, contains some darker atmospheric and catchy rhythm, contrasting with the furious blast beats, showing some excellent use of dynamics to give some epic moments at the beginning of this song.

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