The Few Against Many

SOT

Pulverised Records 2009

The Few Against Many are distinctly Swedish in style but they manage to add a few twists on their debut album, SOT.  Guttural growls are sewn into thick and crunchy death metal riffs as Hadanfard begins its assault.  However, this is somewhat misleading as dramatic synths and bizarre melodies swoop in from the darkness to leave the listener bewildered.  Brand Mark, utilizes these same operatic synths during its initial stages, then traditional, sweeping Swedish melodies drift across the song like a funeral veil, like a sped-up Katatonia.  Moog-ish synth and In Flames references populate the landscape of the bouncy and toe-tapping eccentricities of Blod.  A folk-ish melodic lead meets modern goth metal in an intimate embrace for this track.  Overt keyboards with a sweeping granduer bring to mind Amorphis as Skapelsens Sorti begins, the track quickly assumes a darker, faster personality.  Meaty riffs and swirling synth passages combine to form a union of Grave-esque brutality and psychotic dementia on Abider.   Heresi gallops with its violent tempo and quick jabs of synth but the track quickly collapses into more Moog-isms.  I do enjoy these odes to a bygone era that these moog departures imply as they are sprinkled throughout the album.  Despite all the right ingredients The Few Against Many seem like they are trapped between all out adventure and stereotypical and half-hearted/plastic  death metal.  SOT falls short for me because of this creative dilemma.