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Viral is a Heavy Metal band from Sweden. It was born in 2012 and four years later they released a self-titled demo with two pieces: Going Down and Machine. It took seven years for his debut album to finally see the light: Viral (2021).
Sweden is the country that led the past decade with many bands captivating wholesale. This beginning of the year has seen an interesting rise in North American bands, making us wonder what happened to Sweden.
Fortunately Viral came to raise his hand on behalf of such an important country for the genre.
The album features Marcus Borggren and Larri Malinen on guitars; Christian Ståhl on bass; Linus Melchiorsen on drums and Albin Forsell on bass.
Viral’s sound is straightforward heavy metal, with riff-based pieces that have been featured since their introduction and continue to be used in both verses and choruses.
This could make his music somewhat monotonous, however his composition is very intuitive making his riffs capture from the first listen, as in the case of Going Down.
Albin Forsell’s voice is raspy, scratching the boundaries of Thrash; however, this does not prevent you from throwing highs at the end of each verse or performance.
It is interesting how piece by piece this band is able to capture the ears from beginning to end. It’s all due to the good riffs they are capable of composing.
The production is very sober, without this being a bad thing, we simply listen to the four instruments: two guitars, bass and drums, nothing else, making the pieces sound more raw.
It is because of the quality of the composition that these come out and can be enjoyed without any problem. The mix of Niels Nielsen, who has worked with monsters from that country like Ghost and also In Flames, is a huge positive factor on the album.
It is surprising that a band born at the beginning of the last decade is just releasing their debut album, what did they do during all this time? Beyond that, it’s good to see how that scene continues to deliver bands of this caliber.