Review of Home (2026)
It is not everyday to come across a leading figure with a doctorate in history. Not even within extreme metal. But that is now even the case at Swedish Grand Harvest, where Mikael Häll, better known as Dr. Häll, has researched the homeland's ideas about natural beings and dæmons. He also contributed recitations in the mother tongue and guest vocals on a rare split 7-inch with Rotting Christ and Negative Plane from 2012, which served as a musical companion to his doctoral thesis. So the gloomy motives are not just the staff of the band from Malmö, which since 2017 has fused the rudimentary brutality of black and death metal with the driving and mournful spirit of doom. On their second studio album, Home, the Swedes explore the idea of death as a holy and redemptive homecoming rather than something to be tabooed. One must hope that the ability to implement the philosophical ambitions appears to be just as relevant as the captivating intentions behind it.