‘Vandrande lik, Ett land i psykos, Religion och politik, I perfect symbios’ (Masspsykos) / ‘Walking Corpse, A country in psychosis, Religion and politics, In perfect symbiosis’ (Mass Psychosis)

The story of Stockholm’s Mob 47 is an intriguing one.  The band released their debut 7-inch, Kärnvapen Attack (Nuclear Attack), in 1984, and it soon became one of the touchstone releases of Swedish mangel, fusing blistering d-beat with thrashier hardcore inspirations.  The band’s second EP, Dom Ljuger Igen (They’re Lying Again), didn’t appear until 2008, shortly the band had played their first overseas dates in England the year prior.  Things then went rather quiet again, until now, as the band release their debut album, Tills Du Dör (Until You Die).

Now it would be easy for a band to collapse under the expectations of a legacy that has evolved in their absence.  But, if they did feel any additional pressure, it doesn’t show.  The fundamentals of their sound – lacerating speed, thrashing fury – remain wholly untamed as witnessed by 16 tracks in just 20 minutes.  It is, however, now unleashed with the benefit of a lifetime’s musicianship, which ensures that these attributes hit home with a power that serves to amplify, rather than dilute, the band’s intrinsic rawness.  A velocity embodied by the likes of På Ditt Sät (Your Way), Den Enes Bröd (The One Bread), and Grisar I Kostym (Pigs In Costume).

The band’s political convictions remain similarly front and centre.  Their fierce tirades against entrenched economic inequality (Den Enes Bröd), environmental catastrophe (Moder Jord / Mother Earth), and organised religion (Religös Farsot / Religious Plague) fuel the bristling intensity.  There are also clear nods to life’s changing circumstances, arising from the often stark realisations of growing older (Ut Med Det Gamla / Out With The Old) and the bleak realities of living on Putin’s doorstep (Pest Eller Kolera / Plague Or Cholera).