Review by Michael on May 31, 2023.

With Perracide, Perra Karlsson has finally got his first solo album Underdog in. Everyone who is familiar with the extreme metal scene should pay attention to the name, because in his long metal past Mr. Karlsson has sat behind the drum kit in bands like Benediction, Deströyer 666, In Aeternum, Nasum, Nominon and many more. Accordingly, he has also brought many of his former bandmates as reinforcement in the studio to record some original compositions, but also several re-recordings of old classics.

Album starts with 'Inexorable', where ex-Morgoth singer Marc Grewe is allowed to roar into the microphone in his usual aggro manner. In any case, it starts quite old-school death metal-like and reminds me of a nasty bastard of Morgoth and late 80s grindcore wrecking balls. It continues with 'The Grotesque', already known from the 1994 EP of the same name. Here Perra is actively supported by the (former) Benediction members Peter Rew, Darren Brookes and Dave Hunt as well as Tobias Cristiansson (Grave). The whole thing sounds accordingly and very close to the original. But Perra Karlsson is not only capable of death metal, as can be heard for example in 'Satanic Sacrifice', also wonderfully fucked up black metal. Tribute to the Nifelheim brothers and their unforgotten self-titled classic is paid here of course but also due to the fact that Nifelheim screamer Hellbutcher himself has taken over the vocals. This one remained very close to the original. There are many more like it and among others, 'Apocalyptic Desolator' aka Johan Bergebäck and Sebastian Ramstedt (both Necrophobic, In Aphelion) and John Zwetsloot (ex-Dissection) also play on this album. 'Satanic Speed Metal' (Deströyer 666 with K.K. Warslut as vocalist and other ex-members of the band), 'Domedagen' and 'Cut To Fit' (two wonderfully antisocial-chaotic re-recordings of old Nasum songs), 'The Dreams You Dread' (again Benediction), 'Black Evil' (again Nifelheim in the same line-up) and the Internment classic 'Torn From The Grave'.

The other compositions are very diversified. So 'In The Eyes Of Suffering' has become a flawless Swedish death metal song, which comes across with extremely brutal vocals of Simon Wizén (Valkyria, ex-Ondskapt), who also took over the bass and lead guitars. Quite groovy and catchy in places, often neck breaking. 'The Decisive Slaughter' brings up old Grave vibes thanks to Jörgen Sandström's nasty, deep voice, with the guitars sounding a bit punkier than on the first three Grave albums. 'Horripilation' tends a bit more towards hardcore due to the somewhat choppy vocals and frantic riffing, but mixed with some fat old-school death metal riffs. Here, in addition to the vocals of Darkened singer Gord Olson, Kvaen mastermind Jacob Björnfot contributed a guitar solo. On 'Silence The World' Simon Wizén comes in again, this time he contributes the guitar and bass parts and some chorus lines and Perra himself did the blackish vocals here. Once again a bandmate of Perra from Darkened, namely Hempa Brynolfsson is used on the keyboards / piano. However, the title does not really fit the song, because it is not silent, but a pretty violent one.

As a conclusion, it can be stated that Perra has a really convincing album on his lap with the Underdog and it is very varied due to the many different styles. A big praise also for the fact that he has brought so many former musician colleagues and friends on board to bash together with him on the 14 songs that last about 45 minutes playing time. If you like the aforementioned bands, you definitely won't go wrong here. The thing has become a very entertaining album.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10