Grand Cadaver aren’t a mystery. The Swedes aren’t posturing like kings on the throne that the “Stockholm Scene” built. The vets aren’t out to reinvent death metal. Actually, the Stefan Lagergren (guitars) and Alex Stjernfeldt (guitars) formed quintet are simply revisiting their youth for the fucking fun of it. There is no grander declaration for the members — Daniel Liljekvist (drums), Christian Jansson (bass), and Mikael Stanne (vocals) — than torching the veil, hooking up the HM-2s, and ripping like Leif “Leffe” Cuzner. But let’s rewind a bit for the naysayers, and pull rank because we can. See, Grand Cadaver is home to Stefan Lagergren, one of the maniacs in proto-black/death legends Treblinka. It’s also home to Alex Stjernfeldt, who had his moonlight time in mid-aughts guts-everywhere outfit Mr. Death. Joining the dastardly duo are dudes with their own stories from Pagandom, Katatonia (ex, natch), and Dark Tranquillity.
“For me, ‘Blood-Filled Skies’ is the perfect storm, an homage to the legendary Swedish death metal sound yet also firmly rooted in the present,” vomits Stjernfeldt. “We took everything we have picked up during the years and implemented it into Grand Cadaver, making both this song and the EP into a ferocious and catchy listen!”
“‘Blood-Filled Skies’ was the first song written for this project and it set the tone for what was to come,” Stanne rots. “This was the proof of concept that started the whole thing, and the idea was to find the balance between the long since departed sounds of Swedish death metal in the ’90s with the not quite dead yet sounds of what we feel is coming. With a shared passion for the undead sounds of a HM-2 set to max and guttural sounds telling stories of unspeakable horrors, I predict a long unnatural life for Grand Cadaver.”
So, it’s with undead pleasure and aeons stranger that Decibel, Majestic Mountain Records, and Grand Cadaver unlock the crumbling, ancient Columbarium to smell the intoxicating stench of “Blood-Filled Skies”. Inhale the first song off new EP Madness Comes with us…
