Mezzrow

Sweden would ultimately emerge as a breeding ground for elite death metal acts, yet during the 1980s peak of thrash the nation struggled to yield any standout examples in that style, with Mezzrow serving as an especially telling instance. The group coalesced only after thrash had already crested commercially and artistically around 1986-1987, and its first lineups included future Entombed and Hellacopters mainstay Nicke Andersson. Two demos followed in 1988 and 1989; a contract with the Swedish indie Active Records then led to the release of the band’s sole full-length, Then Came the Killing, in 1990. Uffe Petersson handled vocals while Staffe Karlsson played lead guitar, Zebba Karlsson handled rhythm guitar, Conny Welén played bass, and Steffe Karlsson sat behind the kit. Observers chiefly praised the quintet for faithfully recreating the Bay Area thrash approach exemplified by Exodus, Forbidden, and Heathen instead of the harsher, black- and death-tinged European variant typified by Sodom, Destruction, and Holy Moses, let alone any distinctive voice of its own. That muted reception made the group’s swift dissolution after the album unsurprising; nearly all of its members soon vanished from view, save vocalist Petersson, who later fronted the equally unsuccessful thrash outfit Rosicrucian, and bassist Welén, who made a short-lived stop in leading Swedish thrashers Hexenhaus.