Eldfodd Risen From The Flames Review
Eldfodd
Risen From the Flames
Edged Circle Productions
2025
Supergroups are often hit or miss, especially in extreme metal circles. There are notable exceptions to this rule, such as Lock-Up, Killer Be Killed, and Bloodbath, to name but a few. Often, the “supergroup” tends to sound like a smattering of each band the individual members hail from. Thus, this results in making the albums very uninteresting, or at the least, they sound as if they are treading familiar ground walked by their main outlets of creativity. Thankfully, this is not the case with the debut EP from Sweden’s Eldfodd, the raging four-songer Risen From the Flames.
Eldfodd feature in their ranks members of death and black metal luminaries from Dimmu Borgir, General Surgery, and Necrophobic. They began in February of 2025 “just for the hell of it” and popped a couple of songs onto Bandcamp (the best and most fair-paying streaming service out there, mind you), and Norwegian label Edged Circle came a-calling, and now we have this EP. The lineup is comprised of Erik Sahlström on vocals, Sebastian Ramstedt on lead guitar, Johan Jansson on rhythm guitar, Victor Brandt on bass, and Perra Karlsson handling drums. The sound cultivated here is best described primarily as old-school Swedish death metal stylistically (Entombed, Dismember, Carnage), but there are no Sunlight Studio production cues or HM-2 buzzsaw guitars. Instead, Eldfodd draw from that era and add in a healthy dose of Carcass and the filthiest of the filthy, Autopsy. They've worked with producer Gord Olson to craft their mutated babies and forge their own unique sound here, but make no mistake, this is old-school death metal the way it was meant to be heard, and there is no reinventing the wheel.
When listening to these foul, rotten, cemetery-ridden songs, you're getting it all in spades: growly, gravelly, and somewhat reverberated vocals; down-tuned guitars (that also pack plenty of melodic parts by way of twin harmonized sections and eerie atmosphere in minor keys); blasting, double-bass-riddled drumming with punk penchants; and distorted sinewy bass parts. It all adds up to a gruesome good time. Lead single Risen From the Flames is a belter from the word go, careening from a slinky intro into blast-beaten, tremolo-picked, evil guitarmony bliss and a downright catchy gang-growled chorus. The doom button is pushed toward the song's end, and we're smack-dab onto shreddy soloing and repeating church bells over a breakdown before it's all over. Beyond the Fire is up next and gleefully gives us more of the same, along with some thrashier verses. Possess, Blind and Devour, whether intentionally or not, is decidedly Possessed-like in its snaking, noodly verse riffing before crushing with a mid-tempo refrain of “Join us!” and whammy-bar abuse that follows. Lastly, we come to Silence of the Gods with its breakneck pacing, anguished screams, and relentless thrash abandon. We’re treated to another mid-tempo breakdown at the 2:12 mark that could have easily been an outro on Left Hand Path, before shifting back to a four-on-the-floor end. And that's all she wrote. In a mere twelve minutes and twenty-five seconds, these crazy bastards have given us the most authentic-sounding Swedish death metal EP since Breeding Death. Nothing here sounds forced, revivalist, or tongue-in-cheek. Death metal is their business, and from the sounds of songs of this caliber, business is GOOD. I wait for the full-length or next EP with bated, blood-soaked, flesh-eating breath…
~TB