Spawn of Possession – Cabinet (2003)

In 2003 while death metal was redundant and for the most part stagnant the world was struck by an album that brought the technical death metal genre to another level; the undisputed Cabinet from the Swedish giants Spawn of Possession. Complex harmonies and restless call and response melodies between two guitars are the songwriting-signature evoke the perfect marriage of Lovecratian atmosphere and a satanic choir announcing the apocalypse.

Now, what about this album concretely? Well, the noisy introductory track Lamashtu (which can also be heard as an encore in the last 10 seconds of the album) brings an anguished wait for the first 50 seconds before the brutally efficient Swarm of the Formless graces our ears, an impressive exemple of speed and technique which clearly defines how Spawn of Possession carried the torch for tech death as a viable genre. The song allies twisted counterpoint melodies and endless stamina from the entire band, in a song that constantly twists and turns. Their signature is a half time drum beat played over melodic tremolo riffs, followed by a dissonant (often diminished) sequences of notes played in counterpoint faster than the speed of light, supported by the shattering flawless beats that perfectly fits to this genuine madness. The band also excel in slower tempos (as seen in Hidden in Flesh), mixing unusual harmonies and extremely precise palm muting marking the depths and the brutality of these rhythms; but they can also write insane melodies, reminiscent of the baroque era and all the neo-classical metal bands that inspired most of the shredders from the 80s without making it sound like guitar-wankery. Each note is calculated, has gravitas and is never useless. The solos, which are often the most anticipated part of this genre, offer quite the balance in this ordered chaos, Jonas Bryssling bringing his twisted melodies into his solos are the pinnacle of his art; the use of the harmonic minor scale is a wise choice, because of the tension provided by the major seventh interval makes the melody perfectly fit to the yet tensed riffs and licks brought by the textures of the style.

While arguably this may not be Spawn’s greatest album as Noctambulant reaches equally impressive heights, it’s still an earth-shaking album that not only threw the new gods of technical death metal onward onto the international death metal world, but also redefined the parameters for the genre while sidestepping the pitfalls of the genre, namely a self indulgence and pretension. Cabinet set a benchmark for death metal that has yet to be surpassed.