As You Drown

In Borås, Sweden, four musicians launched Ethereal in 2003 with the aim of creating death metal worthy of ranking among the nation’s strongest musical exports. Mikael Åkerström handled guitar and vocals, joined by Simon Exner on guitar, Martin Latvala on drums, and Alexander Persson on bass. Between 2003 and 2005 the quartet issued a pair of self-released demos and performed live alongside European metal acts such as Entombed and Vader.

Lineup adjustments arrived in 2005 when Åkerström chose to concentrate solely on guitar and recruited Christopher Ranasen to assume vocal duties. Bassist Robert Karlsson stepped in to replace Persson, who departed to pursue studies in Japan. The revised roster refined a sound that fused Behemoth’s technical ferocity with Morbid Angel’s heaviness. In 2007 the band issued the self-released Demo 2007.

A further vocal change occurred in 2008 as Ranasen was succeeded by Henrik Blomqvist, formerly of Shadowbuilder. With a new recording project in progress and the updated membership in place, the group abandoned the name Ethereal and adopted its current identity, As You Drown. Metal Blade issued the band’s first full-length album, Reflection, across Europe and the United States in 2009.