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The Gauntlet: Defaced, The |
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While their origins are grounded in more traditional Swedish death metal, The Defaced almost forget their European influences and opts for a more American brand of extreme metal. The formula is simple yet highly effective: two skilled guitarists - Klas Ideberg (Darkane) and Mattias Svensson, a rock-solid rhythm section - bassist Jörgen Lofberg (Darkane) and drummer Henry Ranta (Soilwork) and ferocious yet accessible vocals courtesy of Henrik Sjöwall.
The Defaced's journey to domination began back in '95 when Ideberg and Svensson formed MadCap. Sjöwall jumped ship from Cul De Zac (which also featured future Soilwork guitarist Ola Frenning), and the band changed their name briefly to Rehab before deciding on The Defaced. The band recruited Lofberg and finally completed the line-up with Ranta a.k.a. Finnen (Swedish for "the Finn" since Ranta is originally from neighboring Finland). Ranta's duties to The Defaced and both Soilwork and his other side-project, Terror 2000 (with fellow Soilworker Björn "Speed" Strid), proved too much, and Ranta left Terror 2000 to concentrate on Soilwork and The Defaced.
Given the Soilwork and Darkane connections, comparisons to Swedish contemporaries like In Flames or Arch Enemy are bound to spring to mind; however, nothing could be further from reality. The Defaced derive inspiration from such American metal staples as Pantera and Metallica as well as Machine Head, Zakk Wylde and the legendary Kiss. The result is an explosive sound full of aggressive, crunchy grooves like opener "October Ruins" and "Forsaken Life" and catchy, radio-friendly stompers like "Sown by Greed." Upon hearing their debut effort, Nuclear Blast America immediately set up an exclusive licensing deal with Italy's Scarlet Records to bring the Swede's distinctly American sounds to North American (and South American) audiences. The slight American nu-metal sound gives Domination Commence a modern sound, but the Swedish mastery of heavy music grounds the songwriting firmly in the hard-hitting extreme metal underground.
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