Celebrity Spotify Playlist: Ola Englund of Feared’s Swedish Metal Playlist

Swedish metal band Feared feature some serious heavyweights amongst their ranks: band mastermind Ola Englund currently plays guitar for both The Haunted and Six Feet Under while drummer Kevin Talley has played for pretty much every band ever. It shouldn’t surprise you, then, that their new album Vinter, out November 25 (order here), kicks ass in every way. Check out a song called “Erased” right here, or below, and we guarantee: you will headbang.

To celebrate, we asked Englund to compile a playlist of some of his favorite Swedish metal bands of all time. Check that out below, followed by Ola’s commentary on the list afterwards.

http://open.spotify.com/user/metalsucks/playlist/4N7vQow4I49l8yXfL7HBtW

While the music and riffs I write sound very US-metal influenced (Pantera, Nevermore, Testament etc), Swedish metal has subconsciously been as big of an influence. These are some of the Swedish bands that have inspired me the most during the years from when I started playing music up until today. A lot of them are givens but hopefully you’ll find something new and refreshing from this list.

Entombed: One of my favorite bands of all time. There is no other band that sounds like Entombed and they have been in the forefront of Swedish death metal for a long time.  Wolverine Blues is my favorite album; it’s not your typical death metal album, but its groove is just too awesome to not bang your head to.

At the Gates: Slaughter of the Soul is a milestone in Swedish death metal, influencing a lot of the bands around me when I was starting to play metal almost to the point that I got sick of it. It wasn’t until the late ’90s that I actually listened through the entire album and fell in love with it.

The Crown: I was at a time in my life where I basically searched out every metal band just to find something good and The Crown are one of those bands I stumbled upon by mistake, with Tomas Lindberg (at the time) on vocals. The Crown were so brutally hardcore and death metal that it makes you want to break stuff. Pure violence.

Meshuggah: Meshuggah are probably Sweden’s most important metal export. It goes without saying that they have inspired a lot of the modern metal bands out there, including my own music.  I’m glad they’re getting the recognition they deserve now. Easily one of the best live metal acts out there.

The Haunted: Swedish Thrash kings. One of those bands that keeps evolving but still maintains such high quality throughout every album. You might think it’s egotistical of me to include a band that I’m playing in but fact to the matter is that I’ve always been a huge fan of The Haunted.

Hypocrisy: Just a great death metal act featuring Peter Tägtgren. One of my friends always listened to Hypocrisy and it took me a while, but eventually I let myself listen to the albums. “Roswell 47” always came up when we we’re jamming at his place. Such a fun song to play on guitar.

Bloodbath: The first time I heard Bloodbath I thought they were from the U.S. To me it just had that American death metal vibe. While I like Mikael Åkerfeldts albums a lot I always preferred Peter Tägtgrens voice on Nightmares Made Flesh. Just fitted the band more.

Opeth: I remember hearing Opeth for the first time: Blackwater Park had just come out and I was blown away by how dynamic their music was. Probably the first time I’d heard growls and clean vocals together without sucking. Blackwater Park is my favorite Opeth album, also because it was a very important time in my life when I started writing a lot of music.

Talisman: I first listened to a lot to Talisman because of their guitar solos. They are flat out genius. Pontus Norgren and Fredrik Åkesson are definitely two of the better guitar players from Sweden. I even took a fair bit of guitar lessons from Fredrik from around the time he joined Arch Enemy to the time when he joined Opeth. If you’re a fan of cheesy choruses Talisman are just perfect.

Pain of Salvation: Somewhere around 2000 I found this album in a Stockholm record store being billed as a progressive metal album. Not too many of those around in Sweden so I was curious. Little did I know that this band had the most impressive singer, Daniel Gildenlöw. He sings with such a feeling it’s hard not to get goosebumps.

Evergrey: Yet another progressive metal band from Sweden that made a huge impact on me. Sadly their older albums aren’t available on Spotify so I had to take a later song (still good though), but if you get a chance check out In Search of Truth. It’s a masterpiece.

A.C.T: A.C.T are one of those bands that just leave you with the biggest smile on your face. The music is uplifting and beautifully written, but it’s definitely not for everyone. I tend to put on their albums every now and then just to remind myself that there is a light side of metal.

Ghost: Ghost are probably the most refreshing band that has come out of Sweden in the past decade. The whole package is just so well thought through that it’s hard to not be impressed.