I generally try not to review two albums close in style in the same week, but I felt like on a warpath batting for old school Swedish death metal, so Banished from Inferno felt right at home in the same column with Grave. After all, when new good things in the tried and true old style emerge they should not be lost in a shuffle.

Banished from Inferno is a cooperative which emerged from the collaboration of prominent Swedish (Roger “Rogga” Johansson) and Spanish (Rober from Machetazo and Phlegeton from less familiar Spanish death bands) musicians. The roles for some players had to be reshuffled - Phlegeton had to drum while he is mainly a vocalist, Rober had to handle the bass in addition to guitar duties and Rogga was focused solely on the vocals - but the self-titled EP is a juggernaut paying homage to the days of Stockholm metal gone by, with a touch of speedier grind moments, perhaps a Machetazo influence.

Aurora Macabra intro does not prophesize anything remotely positive and light and after eerie synth this instrumental lashes out with booming bass and sliding guitar notes. Storm Apokalypse and Calaveras show the dudes know how to latch on and work up a riff, the grind influences more prominently featured on Storm Apokalypse. With an appropriate amount of blast the whole EP does not become one mindless brutal affair, and with the help of an old mastering friend Dan Swano, the focus on lower frequencies does not mean an inaudible rumble.

Rogga delivers his deep roaring vocals, proving his proper selection for Edge of Sanity Crimson II, similarities to Dan Swano inescapable, with backup vocals coming in the form of deranged screaming. Stench of Evil thru the Mist unveils an unexpected melody, which dies, temporarily, under the brutal barrage, only to resurrect itself in the slower reverberating apocalyptic ending and blend out into the outro of The Solemn Bleakness. After a pause in the action Banished from Inferno invokes a real old Celtic Frost tune Into the Crypt of Rays off Morbid Tales EP.

My version of Banished from Inferno is a rare one, where track sequence is wrong. If you make an effort to seek this band out, you certainly won’t regret it. One prerequisite – if faster and darker old Swedish death metal is not your thing, stay away by all means.