''Swamplord'' is the first studio album by the Finnish

melodic death metal Melodic death metal (also referred to as melodeath) is a subgenre of death metal that employs highly melodic guitar riffs, often borrowing from traditional heavy metal (including New Wave of British Heavy Metal). The genre features the heavi ...

band

Kalmah Kalmah is a Finnish melodic death metal band from Oulu that formed in 1998. In less than a year after its formation, Kalmah was signed by Spinefarm Records. The word "kalmah" is Karelian and could be translated as "to the grave" or "to the dea ...

Critical reception

Reception of ''Swamplord'' was fairly positive. Andy Hinds of ''

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

'' praised the album and in particular, the keyboards on the album, stating they "heighten the drama, while adding texture to the quintet's crushing twin-guitar foundation." He also compared the vocals to that of ''

At the Gates At the Gates is a Swedish death metal band from Gothenburg, formed in 1990. The band was a major progenitor of Gothenburg-style melodic death metal alongside In Flames and Dark Tranquillity. Prior to their first disbandment in 1996, At the ...

'' and ''

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother ( e ...

''. Mark Gromen for ''

Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles ''Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles'' (''BW&BK'') is a Canadian heavy metal magazine. Although based in Toronto, Canada, ''BW&BK'' features writers from the US, Germany and the UK, allowing the magazine to represent metal music from an internationa ...

'' called the tracks on the album "Rapidly played hymns of blasphemy, with a high level of musicianship." Kevin Stewart-Panko of ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...

'' stated that "The classical influenced runs and keyboard swells are a nice touch as are the band's experiments with dissonance vs. consonance in 'Heritance of Berija.'" He also said that while the band isn't entirely original, "they do have their moments and provide a decent enough listen."

Track listing

Credits

Band members

* Antti Kokko −

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

* Pekka Kokko −

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or witho ...

* Altti Veteläinen −

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and s ...

* Pasi Hiltula − keyboard * Petri Sankala −

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

Production

* Recorded and mixed at Tico-Tico Studios, Kemi, in September 2000. * Produced by Kalmah and Ahti Kortelainen * Mastered at

Finnvox Studios Finnvox Studios is a recording studio located in Pitäjänmäki, Helsinki, Finland. It was founded by Erkki Ertesuo, Kurt Juuranto and Lejos Inc. in 1965 and is the longest running studio recording facility in Finland. The original multi-track r ...

by Mika Jussila

References

Kalmah albums 2000 debut albums Century Media Records albums {{2000s-death-metal-album-stub