Just as any ’banger worth his or her salt wouldn’t dare confuse Norwegian black metal with NWOBHM, erudite nerds know Delta blues are different from Chicago blues are different from Texas blues, et cetera and so forth. Everyone sings the blues in their own special way. Even the Swedes. Yes, the Swedes. Life can suck anywhere, even in a land famous for its quality of life. Make way for the melt-your-pants goodness of Hisingen Blues, the second full-length from Scandinavian boogie heshers Graveyard (not to be confused with the Spanish death metallers of the same name). Hisingen is the fourth largest and most populated island of Sweden (the northern part of Gothenburg is located here); by the sound of things, this place is ultra harsh. The first line of this psych- and blooze-bent Vesuvius says it all: “I got no friends, only people that I know,” scowls singer Joakim Nilsson on “Ain’t Fit to Live Here.” Like fellow countrymen the Hellacopters, Graveyard trounce the air while sporting shitkickers and enough attitude to plug up a herd of cattle. But there’s a stronger tribal, far-out feel to these songs. Caustic vapors rise from “Uncomfortably Numb” and “Ungrateful Are the Dead” (see what they did there?). The band’s outlook on life may be bleak, but they bypass doom and gloom sounds and get lit to the tits. When Decibel spoke to Graveyard drummer Axel Sjöberg, we wanted to get to the root of Hisingen-branded blues.

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