With their third album "Traces Of The Past", The Forsaken have crafted a reckless abomination of breakneck Swedish death metal that freely wages war with thrash and tech metal derived weaponry. A brutal album from top to bottom, the group continue on their Swedish tradition with a sinister outlook, striking a sound that of course resembles, At The Gates and at times even early In Flames and Dark Tranquility.

The onslaught waged here is one of unwavering intent and showing mercy seems to be one of the last things on the bands mind. A stampede of double kick drumming powers the material forth as sinful sounding riffs continually clash against one another. Barked out vocals and deathy growls then affix themselves at the forefront like a rusty bayonet and ensure that the listener is either left wounded or running in the opposite direction. While the band members themselves all excel at what they do though, perhaps the most cementing factor of The Forsaken is the methodical guitar work of Stefan Holm and Patrik Persson - both of whom readily lay down walls of apocalyptic sonic malevolence with proficient technical foundations.

For all the brutal noise this band make though there is little in the way of dynamics and variation to offset it. Sure there are intermittent part changes and doomy interludes. There are even numerous ascendant solos and some slower paced moments present as well. But none of this can really prevent the album from quickly becoming repetitious as the band stick closely to black-hearted Swedish death metal and focus on little else overall. In fact, the only real diversity found here is shown in the bonus Slayer, Metallica and Grave covers that bookend this release. Still, those looking for a one way aural trip to hell that has no layovers and little more than constant velocity will surely find it in "Traces Of The Past".