Puteraeon – Mountains of Madness
Release Date: 30th May 2025
Label: Emanzipation Productions
Bandcamp
Genre: Swedish Death Metal, Old School Death Metal.
FFO: Grave, Entombed, Paganizer, Unleashed, Dismember, Nihilist.
Review By: Rick Farley
What is there left to be said about Lovecraftian horror inspired Swedish Death Metal, other than if one of the stalwarts of the genre, Puteraeon is about to drop their fifth full length album Mountains of Madness May 30th, 2025, via Emanzipation Productions, you probably should armour up, loosen up those neck muscles and prepare for transcendental chain-sawed violence.
Formed in 2008, Puteraeon have been consistently refining their sound from the throes of the golden age of Swedish death metal to include soulful barrages of cosmic melodies, while pummelling you with a chunky rhythm section and those ugly toned buzzing guitars that we all love so much. Mountains of Madness is purely old school flavoured in musicality, however the Lovecraftian elements fully come alive with the bands unique take on the atmospheric essence that is not often found on the standard OSDM release. The way the melodies intertwine with insanely groovy, crushing brutality forge an otherworldly experience without going crazy into the realm of unnecessary experimentation. This is still Swedish death metal, after all.
Luckily, I was able to review, the bands 2024 EP, Quindecennial Horror, so I’ve been patiently awaiting a new album, and this record delivers the nightmare filled goods. Once again, mixed and mastered by the legend himself, Dan Swanö. Mountains of Madness while being harsh and brutal as hell has an incredibly welcoming feel to it. Everything is audible and warm, yet alive with all the rugged edges and unrelenting rawness that a death metal album should still have.
Being based on one of H.P. Lovecraft’s beloved novella, Puteraeon completely nailed the thematic aura for the story of Mountain of Madness, musically and lyrically. The overwhelming terror and dread through destroying riffs, cataclysmal heaviness and cosmic nightmare fuelled otherworldliness greatly increase the albums appeal. This is a story of a disastrous expedition to the Antarctic in 1930, which found a group of scholars discovering ancient ruins of a civilization and the dangerous secret behind it.
The driving power of The Land of Cold Eternal Winter, with its claustrophobic aura and undeniable headbanging tempo, blends catchy ride cymbal beats and wild growls with a spacey melody, putting the listener within its aggressive soundscape. Horror on the Antarctic Plateau steadily fires out of the gate with terrifying darkness. It creepily builds from a wretched melody to outright crushing blast beats and fast tempo. The undertones of black metal vibes give it considerable atmospheric panic, while Gods of the Unhallowed Space starts with a simple but eerie piano passage that disgorges into a thick crunchy riff. Each track equally good as the last, with zero filler or wasted runtime. With that said, my personal favourite is Watchers at the Abyss. Its instantly wrecking tempo punishes with supreme heaviness. A cosmic melody sets the mood for the horrors felt of a dark vastness. There are short bits of choir toned cleans under harsh growls during the chorus which add a fantastical otherworldly mystique to the track. It’s all these small flourishes of atmospheric elements that make such an impactful difference.
Mountains of Madness for me is the bands best album. Their songwriting mastery of the genre while still being fresh enough and memorable is unmatched. This record is epic in feel, highly listenable, and the kind of album that’s nearly impossible to not hit replay after you hear it. Hammering riffs, crushing tempos, chainsaw toned brutality, it’s all here, but the mindfulness on the entirety of the record is what’s most rewarding. Finely tuned, sharply intriguing death metal. Granted this is not necessarily anything you haven’t heard before, but this is fresh sounding old school Swedish death metal, about as good as you can do it in 2025. Highly recommend.
(4.5 / 5)
