It’s in every style that has ever been made that there are a select few people that have had their hands all over their respective style’s history. Whether their work was instrumental in bringing to style to reality or simply keeping the sound alive, it’s those hands whose work we should always investigate and examine to great detail. When it comes to Swedish death metal, the name of Rogga Johansson has become synonymous in modern times to mastery over the style, and it’s finally with this upcoming record of calculated glory that Johansson can show us his unchallenged talent across every aspect of a band in every form from the writing to brilliant execution.

Even if you’re not familiar of the name of Johansson himself, you may know some of the bands he’s a part in. Just to name a few: Paganizer, Revolting, The Grotesquery, Necrogod, Down Among the Dead Men, Echelon, Humanity Delete, and Ribspreader. Normally, a person would make themselves go insane by being in more than even just one band, but that’s the sheer genius that Johansson has become known for in his decades of delivering quality death metal, and “Entrance to the Otherwhere” may just be his crowning achievement in decades of mastery. Busting in with nine tracks of Swedish death metal that heralds the classic sound with immense reverence and flawless performance, there’s not a song put on this record that isn’t dripping with an incredibly tempered sound that is the result of perfecting his craft across dozens and dozens of other records. Even the interlude track allows “Entrance to the Otherwhere” to take on a slightly different feel for the style where we normally wouldn’t get such a reprieve, but it’s through a very well-paced approach spread out amongst tantalizing riffs, immaculate vocals, and tremendous musicianship that it works out to be wondrously effective in the end. And come to the end of this album of expertly calculated strikes that do nothing but justice for the very concept of Swedish death metal, it’s hard for to say that “Entrance to the Otherwhere” isn’t a delectable experience that we don’t get often by any means whatsoever.

We’ve all heard a band from Sweden pull off some death metal and then it’s nothing but glory from there on out. It’s the likes of bands like Entrails that tend to get more of a spotlight, but if there is any one man that should get a good heap of credit for carrying Swedish death metal to its current form then it should be Rogga Johansson whose name should be heralded. If “Entrance to the Otherwhere” isn’t named as one of the most potent releases of the style that have been released come the end year lists then, truly, there is something wrong with the world.

“Entrance to the Otherwhere” releases on July 19th via Transcending Obscurity Records!

LISTEN to advanced tracks from “Entrance to the Otherwhere” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Rogga Johansson on Facebook here.