Grotesque: reviews, works, and origins of Gothenburg extreme metal

Grotesque

Musical Group

Forfans of early death/black metal, at the gates listeners, and readers tracing the gothenburg scene’s roots.
1 Reviews 1 Definitions 1 Charts

The Profile

Grotesque were a Swedish extreme metal band from Gothenburg, active mainly between 1988 and 1990. Fusing death and black metal elements in the genre’s formative years, they left a small but influential discography, later compiled on In the Embrace of Evil (1997). Members went on to At the Gates and Liers in Wait, with a commemorative live appearance years later.

Formed in Gothenburg (Sweden). Pseudonyms included Goatspell (Tomas Lindberg) and Necrolord (Kristian Wåhlin); Alf Svensson (The Haunting) contributed to the Incantation EP. Lindberg and Svensson later co-founded At the Gates; Wåhlin formed Liers in Wait and is a noted cover artist for Scandinavian metal bands.

Grotesque are a cult Swedish extreme metal band from Gothenburg, active mainly 1988–1990. The review focuses on the 1997 compilation In the Embrace of Evil, pairing the Incantation EP with demo material. It highlights their death/black hybrid roots, pre-dating genre codification, and their role in the early Gothenburg scene. Members later formed At the Gates and Liers in Wait; a commemorative concert closed the story years later.

Notable Quotes

❝ Grotesque have the honor of belonging to this category, whose name evokes a pioneering era at the end of the eighties when metal sought to go beyond the limits of thrash to evolve into something even more extreme.