Afflicted (band)

Afflicted was a technical death metal band from Sweden, active in the early 1990s. They were part of the Swedish death metal scene, though overshadowed by better-known bands like Entombed, Dismember and Tiamat.^[1]

Hailing from Stockholm, the band was formed on the basis of a defunct band Defiance. The band was known as Afflicted Convulsion from 1988 to 1990. Their first demo Beyond Redemption came in 1990, followed by their first single "Ingrained" the same year. The single "Wanderland" from 1992 was released on Relapse Records. The same year, the band struck a record deal with Nuclear Blast. Here, their first album was released, Prodigal Sun in 1992. Later, the band decided to scrap death metal for a more melodic style, notably changing its singer from Joakim Bröms to Michael Van Der Graaf.^[2] The change in style to power metal was evident already in 1994, when Afflicted was represented on the Nuclear Blast compilation Summer Blast 1994. This was before HammerFall revived power metal in Sweden.^[3] The band quit around the same time as releasing Dawn of Glory in 1995.^[4]

Prodigal Sun was marked 3 out of 5 by Swedish newspaper Expressen. While the album was "clearly worthy of buying", the reviewer advised to avoid the "first edition, whose mix is catastrophal".^[5] Dawn Of Glory could only beget a one-star review from Aftonbladet: "Here, honour, vikings and battle is the order of the day, when the Swedes peel off as good as all death metal, and revert to the eighties' metal. Unfortunately, Afflicted mix the worst from both styles, and the result is thin and lame, even sonically. In addition, I miss the essential twinkle in the eye".^[6] In another negative review, Death Metal Underground noted that "This is not metal all. This is rock n’ roll. This, sounds like an attempt at commercialization.^[7] Both albums were also reviewed by Rock Hard.^[8][9]

When Metal Mind Productions re-released Prodigal Sun in 2008, a reviewer for Teeth of the Divine noted that the band had been severely overlooked in its time. "Prodigal Sun (1992) contained eleven mind-blowing tracks, ranging from slow-paced death metal monsters to fast, thrash-influenced bulldozers". While being "extremely heavy", the album also featured "complex structure" with unusual musical references such as "Arabic folk music".^[2] Wrote Death Metal Underground, the intro and subsequent melodies on the album took the listener to "an ancient Egyptian landscape".^[7]

The drummer Yasin Hillborg worked several years on a documentary about metal music, Så jävla metal [sv], which premiered in 2011.^[1] Philip Von Segebaden started the project Defender, which released an album in 1999. He had also played in Cranium.^[10]

• Michael Van Der Graaf - vocals
• Jesper Thorsson - guitar
• Joacim Carlsson - guitar
• Philip Von Segebaden - bass
• Yasin Hillborg - drums

• Beyond Redemption (demo, 1990, as Afflicted Convulsion)
• "Ingrained" (single, 1990)
• "Rising to the Sun" (single, 1992)
• "Wanderland" (single, Relapse Records, 1992)
• Prodigal Sun (Nuclear Blast, 1992)
• Dawn of Glory (Massacre Records, 1995)
• Beyond Redemption (demos compilation, Century Media Records, 2023)

• Afflicted, Encyclopaedia Metallum
• Afflicted, Metal Music Archives

• Wanderland review, Metal Music Archives
• Prodigal Sun review, Metal Music Archives

• Prodigal Sun review, Sea of Tranquility