Origin:	Sweden
Genres:	Death Metal
DISBANDED

Last update/review:	October 18, 2015

Nonexist

It stood to reason that respected vocalist Johan Liiva would find a new home after his departure from Arch Enemy, and that's what we have here. Nonexist paired two musicians from different ends of the metal spectrum, that being Liiva and guitarist Johan Reinholdz of Andromeda, with well-travelled drummer Matte Modin rounding out the trio. The resulting debut album, Deus Deceptor, isn't too far removed from Arch Enemy, but it certainly isn't prog metal a la Andromeda. Crunchy, deathy Swedish thrash is the order of the day here, with Liiva's vocals in fine form and Reinholdz furthering his reputation as a standout guitarist. He sounds as at home here, playing ferocious crunchy thrash, as he does with the more relaxed pace of his other band, though occasionally he works some melodic leads into a few tracks. Not quite a groundbreaking album, but a more than competent debut, and with this amount of talent in the band, they could have gone far. However, both Liiva and Modin left the band in 2003, and with Reinholdz undoubtably busy with his other projects, Nonexist is probably done.