Spanish death metal band AVULSED have unveiled the first details of their upcoming release, Nordic Embryogenesis, an unconventional covers album that promises to celebrate the forgotten origins of Scandinavian death metal rather than its most recognizable names.
Scheduled for release on September 9 through Xtreem Music, Nordic Embryogenesis is far from a typical tribute album. Instead of revisiting classics by genre titans, AVULSED have embarked on what they describe as an archaeological expedition into the earliest days of Swedish, Finnish, and Norwegian death metal, resurrecting songs from obscure demos and EPs released by cult bands that, in many cases, never recorded a full-length album.
The project pays homage to the underground pioneers whose contributions helped shape the Scandinavian death metal movement and, ultimately, influenced AVULSED’s own formation during the summer of 1991.
According to the band, reconstructing these songs proved to be a monumental undertaking. With no official sheet music, transcriptions, or readily available documentation, the musicians painstakingly deciphered guitar riffs, drum patterns, and vocal arrangements directly from aging recordings. In some instances, even the lyrics had to be recovered from nearly impossible-to-find sources, turning the recording process into a genuine excavation of extreme metal history.
Adding another layer of intrigue, AVULSED have chosen not to reveal the album’s track listing or the names of the bands being covered ahead of time. Instead, the eleven songs comprising Nordic Embryogenesis will be released individually, one per week, each accompanied by its own exclusive artwork.
The campaign begins on June 26, with a new track arriving every Friday through the end of August, gradually unveiling the complete album while encouraging speculation among old-school death metal fans.
The band hints that some of the featured acts will be familiar to dedicated collectors of underground Scandinavian death metal, while others may come as a revelation even to the genre’s most devoted enthusiasts. What unites them is their role in forging the sound and spirit that inspired AVULSED’s own career.
Recording sessions took place across several Spanish studios. Drums were tracked at The Empty Hall Studios in Madrid, guitars at Acórdica Studios in Zaragoza, and vocals at Sanctuary Studios in Cáceres. Mixing duties were handled by Alejandro Lobo at Acórdica Studios, while mastering was completed by Davide Billia at MKII Studios in Italy. The album artwork was created by Indonesian artist Rudi Yanto.
Nordic Embryogenesis will be available on CD, vinyl, cassette, and digital formats.
For a band with more than three decades of history, the project represents both a tribute to their formative influences and an effort to preserve a vital but often overlooked chapter of extreme metal history. Rather than simply revisiting well-known classics, AVULSED aim to shine a light on the forgotten relics that helped build one of death metal’s most influential regional scenes.