AFFLICTED — Wanderland (review)

AFFLICTED — Wanderland album cover Demo · 1991 · Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
UMUR
"Wanderland" is a demo release by Swedish death metal act Afflicted. The demo was independently released on cassette tape in November 1991. Afflicted was an important band in the Swedish underground extreme metal scene of the late 80s/early 90s. First working under the Afflicted Convulsion before dropping the Convulsion part of the name in 1990 and onwards solely working under the Afflicted name. They released several demo tapes under both monickers and "Wanderland" ended up being their final demo before being signed by Nuclear Blast Records for the release of their debut full-length studio album "Prodigal Sun" from December 1992. All 4 tracks from the 21:16 minutes long demo would be re-recorded and included on "Prodigal Sun" (1992).

"Wanderland" is the first release by the band featuring what I would characterize as a professional sounding production job (recorded at Sunlight Studio in November 1991 with producer Tomas Skogsberg). In fact the sound production is very well sounding considering that "Wanderland" is a demo recording. While every release leading up to this one features some interesting elements or signs of progression, "Wanderland" is also the first release by Afflicted to be a through and through high quality release.

The musicianship is strong and the band pull off playing some relatively fast-paced and technical deathgrind parts with conviction (as well as more regular death metal parts). The lead guitar work and the many unconventional riffs deserve a mention too. The intelligible growling vocals of Joakim Bröms are placed high in the mix...and when you have such a powerful and articulate growler in front, that´s exactly where you want to place him. The vocals are absolutely amazing...

...another asset of the band´s music is the songwriting, which is adventurous, powerful, and progressive in nature. This is very unconventional sounding death metal/deathgrind considering that Afflicted are an early 90s Swedish death metal act. It´s only the drum sound which point in that direction, because there aren´t many elements of the music that you can point at and say that they sound like other contemporary Swedish artists recording their music at Sunlight Studio with producer Tomas Skogsberg.

I´ve seldom come across a more interesting death metal demo than "Wanderland", which to my ears is a very unique release, featuring strong musicianship, intriguing and effectful songwriting, and a brilliant and powerful sounding production job. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Antibeauty Hardcore Punk
SNOWING IN PERU
Buy this album from MMA partners
Mana Earth Hardcore Punk
SNOWING IN PERU
Buy this album from MMA partners
Intimate Isolation Hardcore Punk
GOOD FALL
Buy this album from MMA partners
Dark Future Sludge Metal
PAIN CHEMISTRY
Buy this album from MMA partners
Violent Delights Hardcore Punk
GALLEONS
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Galleons - Electric Emotions
GALLEONS
Bosh66· 17 hours ago
Galleons - Elsewhere (Official Lyric Video)
GALLEONS
Bosh66· 17 hours ago
Galleons - Neon Dreams (Official Lyric Video)
GALLEONS
Bosh66· 17 hours ago
Galleons - I Travel East As Fievel Goes West Pt. 1 - Official Lyric Video
GALLEONS
Bosh66· 17 hours ago
FREEHOWLING - SCARS FT. AARON MATTS (TEN56.) [OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO]
FREEHOWLING
Bosh66· 18 hours ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed