CAPTOR "Lay It To Rest" Gatefold Double LP

CAPTOR "Lay It To Rest" Gatefold Double LP (Awakening Records 2024)

Awakening Records proudly presents CAPTOR's magnum opus, "Lay It to Rest," on vinyl and cassette for the first time!

CAPTOR was a Swedish thrash metal band from Katrineholm. The first incarnation was formed by Jacob Nordangård, Juha Mäyre, and Christer Johansson in 1987, but it was disbanded due to military service a year later.

Singer and bass player Nordangård met guitarist Niclas Kullström in late 1989 and formed a new band with drummer Lars-Ingvar Eriksson, which inherited the name CAPTOR. The band was inspired by the thrash and early death metal scene of the time, including CORONER, SEPULTURA, and DEATH, and its lyrics dealt with political power play and philosophy.

The band underwent several lineup changes until it found stable ground in late 1991, with the addition of guitarist Fredrik Olofsson and drummer Angelo Mikai. This lineup proved very musically creative, and CAPTOR recorded the demo tapes Memento Mori in 1991 and Domination in 1992. Both were highly successful and stirred up a great interest in the band in the underground world. CAPTOR got a reputation as a progressive and dynamic thrash outfit with a crushing live set and played with the era's pioneers.

The self-financed debut album Lay It to Rest was recorded early in 1993 and released by the Swedish label Eurorecords in the summer of the same year. The press' reactions were genuinely positive, and Sweden's most prominent metal magazine, Close Up, included the song T.D.L. on their compilation album Extreme Close Up. Everything was set up for a glorious future.

Sadly, however, due to poor distribution, the album was hard to find in record shops. When the record company soon after went bankrupt, things got even worse. It was a hard blow to the hard-working band now trying to find inspiration for a follow-up album, and tension mounted within it.

The opus "Lay It to Rest" is varied, progressive, and solid, with some death metal vibes, clean vocals, and female choruses. After over three decades, it is finally available on vinyl and cassette for the first time. It is an extreme metal gem that is not to be missed!