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If there's anything that the Stockholm and Gothenburg scenes have taught us, it's that the Swedes truly know how to make Death Metal. This is a lesson many bands from across the globe have taken to heart, and now the four members of Italy's Ontborg can be counted amongst them.

Their debut album, Within the Depths of Oblivion, is ten tracks worth of Swedish Death Metal that's as much about Dismember and Entombed as it is Sacrileges and Eucharists. Mixing that typical Swedish sound with the melodic sensibilities of Melodeath, these lads have clearly learned the lesson that when you play in a style that has been overplayed and often seen as dated, you need to either play the hell out of your music or do something to distinguish yourself from all the other hacks. Ontborg certainly do the former, maybe even a bit of the latter, and are definitely a fine example of why we ever cared about this stuff to begin with. Well worth a look.