Reviews

When you pick up a disc from Lifeforce Records, look at the 5 men on the package that have hair totaling more than 8 feet in combined length and read that they are from Sweden, it’s pretty safe to assume what card you’ve just been dealt. The only shocking bit to By Night’s Lifeforce debut is just how mature and technical their calculated attack actually is. They have assembled an album of incredible Swedish-style metal that anyone can appreciate.

The overall musicianship is stellar. Combine that with the vacuum-sealed meticulous performance from top to bottom and you’ve got an incredible, seething debut from a band that has set the bar very high for themselves and for all imitators. From the ashes of a previous band called Predicted Conspiracy raised the Phoenix, By Night, in 1999. In 2002, they were voted one of the “best unsigned bands in Sweden” and well on their way to accepting the throne as the next great export from the same country that gave us Meshuggah, In Flames, At The Gates, Dark Tranquility and Ikea (alright, not a metal band, but how can you hate on affordable yet stylish modular furniture that’s complete accessible and affordable for everyone? I digress…).

They steamroll through a nine track disc pummeling us the whole way through, only stopping to let the listener catch his breath briefly, in just enough time to see them speed away again, crushing everything in their path. The standout tracks are “One and The Same” and “Behind in Silence” both of which typify everything that metal should be, and with help from By Night it will be the high water mark that all other bands will have to live up to. I would (and have) recommend this disc to anyone that appreciates well-executed, sphincter-tight metal and enjoys the soothing, warm caress of a vocalist that sounds like he gargles with shards of glass and nails after every meal. Absolute, fucking, carnage.

For Fans Of: Meshuggah, In Flames, Extol, Arch Enemy.