The names of players in Swedish The Resistance do not need introduction. You simply have not been following extreme metal if you do not know Jesper Stromblad and Glenn Ljungstrom (both ex-guitarists for In Flames), Marco Aro (the voice of The Haunted for a while) and Chris Barkensjo who spent quite a few years drumming for Kaamos as Chris Piss. With a lineup like this, and many of these musicians coming back into the fold after personal struggles and documented chaos, the expectations are obviously high. Yet it is also understandable that people would view this ensemble as a quick mini-project by the aforementioned players, and not knowing what some of these people were up to for a few years, a degree of caution is also warranted.

Wherever life took The Resistance players after they left their respective bands Rise from Treason makes one clear statement. Whatever pent up aggression these Swedes stored in their collective system, it is going to be spilled out. After some creepy bells intro, My Fire blasts out with some burly riffs and Aro possessed screams. This music exists for one plain reason to start the fight, and to maul you in the process, despite a brief melodic moment around 2 min in.

Heavy, densely produced downtuned sound runs through this EP. Guitars are tuned to the bass frequency and bass is practically subterranean. Aro is as intense as he was on his pair of The Haunted releases, and perhaps it is his voice, but the songs like the title track veering to the more brutal end of melodic death metal do remind me of the Aro-era The Haunted (of One Kill Wonder in particular), Carnal Forge and Dimension Zero. Back in my younger days I preferred my melodic death metal to carry more melody, but now this unprotected anger spilling over the top serves me well, and probably relates to how the musicians themselves might have been feeling.

As much as Rise from Treason is united by its heaviness, intensity and hardcore attitude, The Resistance hints at variety which might come on the full-length. My Fire is more hardcore, the title track is melodic in spots, Face to Face is old Swedish death metal a-la Bloodbath and the closer Slugger has a rocking-out Entombed and Nihilist vibe, only a lot more modern sounding.

Potent punch at the very minimum, The Resistance have a chance to cover a lot of ground with their combination of violent fun and in-your-face attitude, even if no new extreme metal horizons are to be reached by their music.