We could sit here all day and take into consideration all that death metal has brought to the table since its inception decades ago and all that is has accomplished in that time, but there are truths that have been remaining ever since some of the earliest days of the genre. Sometimes might makes right, there’s no replacing the old school, and it takes more than being simply brutal to claim victory in the genre are but some of the themes that keep finding their way to the forefront of our consciousness as time has gone on. Along with them, Scandinavia has been a long-held bastion of the genre. Numerous bands have come from those reaches to show us what can still be done with bands like Feral always ready to meet the challenge even years down the line.

Having put out their debut album thirteen years ago, it goes without saying that Feral has come a long way. It’s in recent times that they’ve recently started to climb the ranks of the Swedish death metal underworld in exemplary fashion with few able to stand in their way as they strongly adhere to many of the foundational pillars that has always made the Swedes particularly effective in all of death metal, and Feral has only seemed to have gotten deadlier overtime. A rising force that is nothing to be denied, “To Usurp the Thrones” is but the continuation of such a monstrous offensive upon the absolute entirety of creation itself. Truly, this is the only sensible direction that Feral could have gone given what they’ve been building up towards over its run with this standing as their fourth and arguably most engrossing album to date. A certifiable wall of sound that eviscerates practically all of the competition that comes before it with not much as a shred of mercy to be had between these riffs, solos, and constant murderous intent that never once pulls back to offer any sense of reprieve for the listener, “To Usurp the Thrones” is true Swedish death metal untainted. Where the bloodied axe reigns unchallenged and the ripping of the spine is the law of the land, only Feral stands tall to rule over the domain that has been reduced to bloodied ashes as the fires spread beyond the horizon.

A bonafide beauty of Swedish glory from start to finish, how can one look upon what Feral has put forth here and not be utterly compelled by the overwhelming power? Intoxicating in the most macabre form and no less than intoxicating to linger upon, “To Usurp the Thrones” is the album we’ve been waiting for from a band like Feral with it really feeling like these vikings are seizing their destiny with both hands grasped firmly around the necks of its ill-fated victims.

“To Usurp the Thrones” releases on October 18th via Transcending Obscurity Records!

LISTEN to advanced tracks from “To Usurp the Thrones” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Feral on Facebook here.