Sweetest Tragedies

This greatest-hits set successfully chronicles the career of Sweden's Cemetary, tracing the group's transformation from brutal death metal into a techno-inflected, gothic metal sound. Except for the nonchronological song sequence, there is little to criticize here, as even the band's earliest, most primitive songs ("Where the Fire Forever Burns," "And Julie Is No More," "Where the Rivers of Madness Stream") possess distinctive melodies and hooks. Of the band's later, "post-growl" material, highlights include "Scarecrow," "Ophidian," and "Sweet Tragedy." Closing the album is the song "Sundown," the name used by bandleader Mathias Lodmalm for a side project that eventually lured him away from Cemetary.