Denmark has made some major contributions to metal over the years, not least the mighty King Diamond and some bloke called Lars.
Here’s the newest: Aphyxion, one of the most exciting new bands in Europe and budding figureheads for a melodic death metal scene that’s been stagnating for some time.
“Denmark has the best metal community ever,” states guitarist Jonas Haagenson. “Everybody’s so goddamn nice here! We’re all friends, we all know each other, and it’s not like bands compete with each other – we’re just buddies! With that said, it can also be described as a scene with so many good but undiscovered bands like us, and that’s a shame!”
Aphyxion’s debut album, Earth Entangled, is such an exhilarating rush of brute force and razor-sharp hooks that it seems unthinkable that these young warriors won’t be turning heads everywhere their thunderous sound is heard. Barely out of their teens, they already have a distinctive musical personality and plenty of metal anthems to draw in the crowds. And the quality of their music has led to some great opportunities.
“We played the mighty Wacken in 2011 as the youngest band ever!” Jonas recalls. “After that show everything got completely out of hand. A booking company had their eyes on us at the Wacken gig and offered us a European tour in the spring of 2012, when we were still only 17 and 18. We went, played some crazy awesome gigs, broke our van twice but completed the tour and had a blast!”
Earth Entangled, however, presents a worldview that is somewhat less than optimistic.
“It’s not the typical blood, guts and vomit thing we’ve got going on,” laughs Jonas. “There’s plenty of that as well, but every song has a message. The lyrics elucidate subjects like identity, religion, global warming, surveillance and much more. The album is a dystopian depiction of the world as we see it. A world in decline. A world entangled in despair.”
What better way to fend off thoughts of the Apocalypse than with some shit-hot metal? Exactly. You need this band in your life now.
Earth Entangled is out now via Mighty Music
