Swedish death metal supergroup Grand Cadaver, formed in Gothenburg and Stockholm during the 2020 pandemic, has released their new single “The Rot Beneath” on May 22, 2025, from their upcoming four-track EP of the same name, set to drop on August 15, 2025, via Majestic Mountain Records. The band—Mikael Stanne (Dark Tranquillity, The Halo Effect) on vocals, Stefan Lagergren (ex-Treblinka/Tiamat) and Alex Stjernfeldt (Novarupta) on guitars, Christian Jansson (Pagandom, Dark Tranquillity) on bass, and Daniel Liljekvist (ex-Katatonia) on drums—features veterans who helped shape the first wave of Swedish death metal in the late ‘80s. Their signature HM-2 buzzsaw sound drives the track, reflecting on global despair with lyrics questioning humanity’s role in its own demise: “What are we if not the rot beneath?”
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Grand Cadaver’s journey began with their debut EP Madness Comes (February 2021), recorded in just three days, which hit #9 on the Swedish Album Charts for physical copies. Their first full-length, Into the Maw of Death (October 2021), earned praise for its menacing take on old-school death metal (OSDM), with Distorted Sound Mag noting its “enduring love of death metal of all stripes.” After pandemic restrictions lifted, they debuted live in Gothenburg, toured with At The Gates, and played Gefle Metal Festival Winter Edition. Their second album, Deities of Deathlike Sleep (August 2023), continued their legacy, with The Razor’s Edge calling it “ripping old-school death metal with a sinister doomy mood.” Pre-orders for The Rot Beneath are open, offering various vinyl colors at grandcadaver.com/trb.