Full Album Stream: As You Drown: Rat King – new album

Out October 10th, 2011 in Europe / October 11th, 2011 in North America  via Metal Blade Records, listen to the new album by Swedish extreme death metallers AS YOU DROWN before its release here – on Metal Hammer. ‘Rat King’ was recorded at the band's own AYD Studio in Borås, Sweden and was mixed and mastered by Plec at Panic Room Studio in Skövde, also Sweden. Lyrically, the album is said to explore that mind-stimulating medieval German folk phenomena of “rat kings”, associated with plagues that devastated the European continent. (“Rat Kings are phenomena said to arise when a number of rats become intertwined at their tails, which become stuck together with blood, dirt, ice, excrement or simply knotted. The animals reputedly grow together while joined at the tails. The numbers of rats that are joined together can vary, but naturally [lets us know Wikipedia] “rat kings” formed from a larger number of rats are rarer.” I read that alcohol-preserved specimens of purported rat kings are kept in some museums in Germany, therefore if you’re in a band currently touring Germany I see no reason why you should not look up the largest known mummified “rat king” found in 1828 in a miller's fireplace at Buchhaim, these days proudly exhibited at Mauritianum museum in Aletnburg, heh.)  And do not forget to buy the ‘Rat King’, the album, which features artwork by Mark Riddick and Sven de Caluwe (ABORTED, SYSTEM DIVIDE) here via Metal Blade.

AS YOU DROWN (once known as “Ethereal”) was formed in Borås, Sweden in 2003 by guitarists Mikael Åkerström and Simon Exner and drummer Martin Latvala. With three demos under their belt, the band beefed up the line-up in 2005 by adding bassist Robert Karlsson and vocalist Henrik Blomqvist. ‘Reflection’, their debut album, was recorded at AYD Studio in Borås, mixed and mastered by Christian Silver at Studio Mega in Varberg, Sweden, and was released internationally through Metal Blade Records in 2009:

“These guys are a whirling ball of fury, combining the grotty guitar sound of classic acts from their homeland like ENTOMBED and GRAVE with the relentless breakdowns, complex riffing, and blast-furnace vocals of contemporary deathcore acts like SUICIDE SILENCE and Metal Blade labelmates WHITECHAPEL,” [observed Phil Freeman, AllMusic – more of it here]