Katakomba Makes Death Metal Deadlier on "Embalmed in Concrete" (Early Track Stream)

Ah, death metal — where a song about an immensely painful death can be viscerally uncomfortable, but also a jam. Swedish death metallers Katakomba draw from their country’s rich and bloody history when crafting their own brand of death metal, but their debut self-titled record puts their own intense spin on things. The nasty, buzzing tones and powerful vocals that seem almost expected from Swedish death metal just feel a little more disgusting than usual here, and that’s exemplified in a new single, “Embalmed in Concrete,” which we’re premiering now.

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Listen closely to the lyrics and the reality of what the Swedes are describing starts to set in — and it feels icky, setting the mood far better than any chainsawed riff can. The song rips along without hesitation, with savage blasts and high-energy riffing pushing the pace. The end of the track seems to both slow down and get faster at the same time, with quick lead work emphasizing a suddenly half-time rhythm section that feels like the last gasps of a suffocating victim. It just fits, and it’s also badass, which speaks to Katakomba’s knack for crafting death metal that’s both horrifying and killer.

The band comments:

“Embalmed in Concrete” is definitely a crusher, it’s one of the more intense and faster tracks on the album. It also didn’t hurt getting a bit of help from Niklas Sandin (Katatonia, LIK) who plays the opening solo and Tomas Åkvik (Bloodbath, LIK) who provides guest vocals on the track.
While most of the lyrics on the album generally are more esoteric, “Embalmed in Concrete” is literally about slowly getting crushed in drying cement….finally succumbing, already embalmed in your own concrete grave. Gore, guts, torture, death and despair. Classic death metal lyrics. An ode to the old school.

Katakomba releases July 29th via Redefining Darkness Records.