In my journey to cover many sub-genres of metal and things that inspired metal I was following the chart/poster laid out by Sam Dunn for his Metal Evolution documentary series from Banger Films. This branch Swedish Extreme Metal is the last branch for me to cover on that chart.

Do not fret though as I have a few branches not on that chart that I also plan to cover.

Sweden has been a hot bed for music for decades even with pop acts, but also with Metal. One of my favorite music acts come from Sweden. With their current political climate I am a bit concerned that it may not be as easy to be so open an exploratory in music in their near future. I certainly hope that isn't the case, as they have often pushed the envelope when it comes to music and introduced the world to some new approaches. It is my wish that this continues to be the case.

There is an official documentary on Extreme Metal released as part of the Metal Evolution series. It can be watched on youtube here. This episode focuses on more than just Sweden.

If you are new to my Metal Tree posts, the series of post began with this first post that has the first 21 or so posts as a list at the bottom until I passed the 30 day edit limit and could no longer add new links. You can find the rest by clicking on the metaltree tag.

Let Us Begin

Sweden has been active in many scenes in the sub-genres prior to this one. This is everything from Progressive Metal, First Wave of Black Metal, Death Metal, Black metal, Gothic Metal, etc. Sweden has been a force to be reckoned with in the metal music scene. Most of these bands have elments of Death Metal mixed in with them so they will often show up listed as "Swedish Death Metal", or "Swedish Melodic Death Metal". They can actually often have quite a few different sub-genres melded into this one.

Dismember

Band First Released: 1988
They didn't release a full studio album until later than some of these other acts, but they have the earliest Demo that I found reference to.
Live Blasphemies (2004) - 48:47

Override Of The Overture

Time Heals Nothing

Edge of Sanity

Band First Released: 1989
This band's first studio album was in 1991, but they had a demo in 1989. This band was recommended to be added to this list by @bnoise and it is pretty good. I have edited the post to add it. As he described it that are really kind of Progressive Death Metal, which also describes one of my favorite bands Opeth. I listed Opeth in the Death Metal, and Progressive Metal posts, so I left them out here. I am going to add Edge of Sanity. Let's start with the long song Crimson that @bnoise recommended.
Crimson - 40:00 - full album, but it is apparently all one song - a very Progressive Metal thing to do. :)

Black Tears

Twilight

Entombed

Band First Released: 1990
Hollowman

Seeing Red

Wolverine Blues (Full Album) - 37:45

Grave

Band First Released: 1991
Into The Grave (Full Album) - 42:22

Endless Procession of Souls (Full Album) - 1:02:32

Soulless

Unleashed

Band First Released: 1991
Where No Life Dwells (Full Album) - 36:41

Before The Creation of Time

The One Insane

Eucharist

Band First Released: 1991
A Velvet Creation (Full Album) - 48:39

With The Sun

Greeting Immortality & Mirrorworld Live @ Metal Reunion, Bruket, Varberg 2016

At The Gates

Band First Released: 1992
Slaughter of the Soul (Full Album) - 34:20

Slaughter of The Soul - Live At Wacken 2008 - 3:11

Kingdom Gone

METAL EVOLUTION: Albums - At the Gates' Slaughter of the Soul documentary - 24:16

Dark Tranquility

Band First Released: 1993
These guys have a different sound from the bands above. I personally think this band has some very interesting sonic scapes. Their videos also have the most views out of all the bands up to this point as well.
Misery's Crown

Lost to Apathy

Shadow In Our Blood

In Flames

Band First Released: 1994
This band is very interesting and has quite a few different sounds. Like Dark Tranquility they have a lot more popularity than the earlier bands in this sub-genre. In Flames is pretty well known in some circles as they've had songs show up in music based video games.
Take This Life

Deliver Us

Come Clarity

Arch Enemy

Band First Released: 1996
This is a power house of a band. They've been fronted by two very capable female vocalists in the realm of "death metal", and believe it or not they can sing more than that. They also have had some very good musicians. They've swapped musicians with other bands, and one former guitarist of theirs is in Opeth which is one of my favorite bands, and now in Arch Enemy is also Jeff Loomis who came from Nevermore which is one of my favorite bands. Nevermore broke up, Jeff came to Arch Enemy, and the guitarist he replaced went to newly reformed Sanctuary which is where two other Nevermore members went to. Quite the incestuous exchange of musicians, and this band Arch Enemy seems to be squarely in the center of it all.
War Eternal

Nemesis

You Will Know My Name

Soilwork

Band First Released: 1998
Nerve

The Bringer

Soilwork live at Wacken Open Air 2013 (full concert) Pro shot - 53:07

The Haunted

Band First Released: 1998
No Compromise

The Flood

All Against All

Bloodbath

Band First Released: 2000
Eaten

Hades Rising

Breeding Death

In Closing

There is a good reason this sub-genre has the title EXTREME in its title. Most of it is likely a bit too much for the average listener. There are some exceptions that sneak within there. The Dark Tranquility stuff seems a bit different from the majority of the fare here. In Flames is also known for having some fairly different pieces. As always if you know a band that fits in the sub-genre of Swedish Extreme Metal please feel free to reply and include a link to that video.

Thank you for reading, watching, and listening.

Steem On!