Includes "A-Z of Swedish death metal bands - encyclopedia," with band histories and performers.

Sweden is a remote country in the freezing northern Europe, with less than nine million inhabitants and a reputation for Volvos, hockey players, cheap furniture, vodka, and blonde women. Since the late 1980s, however, Sweden has produced over a thousand extreme heavy metal bands, creating one of the most respected regional music scenes in the world. This is the improbable history of how a marginalized teen movement crawled from Sweden's small towns and suburbs, and found a lasting place on the world stage. Daniel Ekeroth captures the epic tale with enlightening detail, beginning with Sweden's violent loss of innocence in the 1980s, through the metal's virtual chokehold on the country during the 1990s into the lasting legacy and influence in the turbulent 2000s of the Sunlight guitar tone, the "Gothenburg Sound," and the countless offshoots of Sweden's most lethal cultural export. This ultimate blow-by-blow account of Sweden's legendary death metal underground is based on exclusive interviews with members of Nihilist/ Entombed, In Flames, At the Gates, Dismember, Grave, Hypocrisy, Opeth, Unleashed, Marduk, Morbid, Mob 47, Deranged, Edge of Sanity, Merciless, Therion, Liers in Wait, Carnage, Carcass, Tiamat/Treblinka, Afflicted, Repugnant, and the Haunted.

The book includes a massive A-Z of Swedish death metal bands (about 900 entries) as well as fanzines. It contains over 500 cool pictures. About 30 central characters of the scene have been interviewed, and some of their anecdotes are as wild as the music ever was. Still, the main focus of this research is the music.

In the early 1990s, Swedish death metal revolutionized the international music scene. Suddenly, the mild-mannered Scandinavian country found itself at the forefront of a new movement with worldwide impact thanks to bands such as Entombed, Dismember, and At the Gates. The birth of black metal drove the culture to even greater extremes, featuring a rawer, darker sound and non-ironic death-worship. Soon churches in both Norway and Sweden were aflame, and be- fore long Satanism emerged as more than just an image. But how did it all start? Why did Sweden become a hotbed for such aggressive, nihilistic music? And who are the people and bands that brought it all about? Blood, Fire, Death: A Swedish Metal Story recounts the evolution of the genre from the massive amplifier walls of 1970s rock, through the church-burning Satanic 1990s, to the diverse and paradoxical manifestations of the scene today. This book focuses on the phenomena that have propelled the scene forward in an evolution that has not only been musical, but aesthetic and ideological as well. This is a story about grotesque logos and icons that invoke death and darkness, but also a story of dedication, friendship, community, and a profound love for music.

"Previous edition publishedi n hardcover by Decibel Books, 2015. Original edition by Feral House, 2004."--Title page verso.

Tampa, Florida's Obituary has been a death metal institution since 1984. Guided by the inhuman, if not unfathomably deranged vocals of John Tardy, the obscenely brutal guitar tone of Trevor Peres and rhythmic brilliance of drummer Donald Tardy, Obituary defined heaviness throughout the 1990s. Their 1989 'Slowly We Rot' and 1990 'Cause of Death' studio albums are undisputed classics, but their live prowess and unwavering dedication to their fans made them one of the metal underground's most respected bands.An unexpected five-year hiatus starting in 1998 only saw Obituary's stature grow when a new generation of bands adopted their sonic trademarks. However, their post-reformation efforts were nearly sidetracked by the perils of the music industry and inter-band tumult. Through the unbreakable bond between the Tardy brothers and Peres, Obituary emerged stronger than ever, entrenched in their rightful position as death metal vanguards.'Turned Inside Out: The Official Story of Obituary' is the fully authorized biography of Obituary, providing an unprecedented look into the band's career through in-depth interviews, studio recollections, road stories and scores of exclusive photos.

By and large, Sweden's place in film history is secure and prominent. Swedish films are associated with Ingmar Bergman's successful and high-quality works. However, another breed of Swedish film is notorious for its laissez-faire attitude towards nudity and relaxed sexuality. Produced in the back yard of the Swedish film industry, these sexually daring films join countless sensational movies that deal with shocking or taboo subjects - street punks, space aliens, hard drugs and drunken Vikings. Ekeroth delves into Swedish culture and returns with an overview of 'Sensationsfilms'.