Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Bloodbound
Label: AFM Records
Release: 2014
Length: 46:25
Rating: 4/5
Bloodbound are a Swedish power metal outfit that’s been around since 2004 and put out five studio albums between 2006 and 2012. The sixth, called »Stormborn«, landed in the third decade of November 2014, and it’s the band’s third album in a row recorded with a lineup that has finally found its footing and stopped changing. In their early days, Bloodbound raised some eyebrows in metal circles over their look, since they wore corpse paint on stage, which is basically a black metal fetish. The band came together around a scene veteran, keyboardist Fredrik Bergh, known for leading the excellent Swedish AOR rockers Street Talk, who’ve been active since 1994 and released five studio albums between 1997 and 2006.
By way of intro, I should add that Bloodbound are old friends of ours, since back in April 2009, promoting their then-current third studio album »Tabula Rasa (2009), they played in Maribor, opening the night for headliners HammerFall. Sabaton were on the bill that night too, riding the wave of a massive rise (it was already obvious back then that they were stealing the show from headliners HammerFall).
»Stormborn« is an album with all the typical traits of the Scandinavian approach to melodic metal, straight-up power metal included. Compared to its predecessor »In the Name of Metal« (2012), which was more direct and, riff-wise, kind of »stripped down«, »Stormborn« brings a noticeable upgrade in pomp and bombast, thanks to keyboards that play a bigger role and get woven into the arrangements far more heavily, which also adds a pinch of symphonic flavor to the band’s musical dossier. On top of the occasionally more prominent keyboard »blanket« wrapped around the guitar lines, the pomp is pushed even further by harmonized multi-part choir chants that contrast with the lead vocal at key moments. So if the predecessor leaned old-school, the new album flirts with tricks typical of power metal bands currently riding a gigantic wave of popularity. Yep. I’m talking about the Swedes of Sabaton, but also a bit of a »mashup« of Judas Priest and Powerwolf on opener Satanic Panic. The tracks where the arrangements (especially the beefed-up keyboards and choir chants) pull toward Sabaton are the title track Stormborn, When the Kingdom Will Fall and partly Iron Throne (the chorus).
Bloodbound have developed an extraordinary musicality, which is no news if you look back at their earlier studio efforts. The songs also kick into an ultra-fast rhythmic gear, driven by furious double-bass-pedal pounding and violent snare hammering. That textbook power metal march, combined with the melodic side, creates a compact sort of theatricality that at times even drifts toward Rhapsody of Fire (Nightmares from the Grave, Seven Hells, When All Lights Fall). Johansson’s vocals play a part here too: they’re devoted to a purely melodic approach and come across as a mix of the explosiveness of Niklas Isfeldt (Dream Evil) and the melodic catchiness of Joakim Cans (HammerFall) and Tobias Sammet (Edguy), in their better days, of course. That’s what pulls Bloodbound toward all four of the bands cited in this paragraph.
The album »Stotmborn« is also seriously catchy in its vision. The songs grab you instantly. That said, the band isn’t bringing any musical revolution here, just a very skillful recycling of heavy metal phrases that have been tried and tested countless times. One of those routine "sleight of hand" moments, and one that stands out a bit from the rest of the album, is the classic-leaning riff of the wake-up-call track Made of Steel, which recycles the riff of Dallas 1 p.m. by metal heavyweights Saxon.
Bloodbound are excellent musicians. Swedish perfectionism pushes them there, along with that famous dedication Scandinavians bring to everything they take on. »Stormborn« is a nicely packaged power metal album that doesn’t reinvent the wheel and is predictably generic, but built from skillfully repackaged (already used) ideas with a proven effect. It’s the product of routine and experience, which the band, while staying true to musical quality, pulls off with ease. Still, it’s noticeable that the band is trying to catch some of that success and relevance (see the Sabaton comparisons above), and that grates a little.
Bloodbound will play Ljubljana on March 23, 2015, as the support act for German power metal veterans Majesty. »Stormborn« is an album that will surely win over the hardcore power metal fans who’ve followed the band from the start, as well as those of you who don’t know them yet. Let’s hope those same fans show up at the Ljubljana gig to see how the new Bloodbound album works live on stage!
Lineup
Patrik “Pata” Johansson – vocals
Tomas Olsson – guitar
Henrik Olsson – guitar
Fredrik Bergh – keyboards, backing vocals
Anders Broman – bass
Pelle Åkerlind – drums
Production
Jonas Kjellgren
Tracklist
1. Bloodtale
2. Satanic Panic
3. Iron Throne
4. Nightmares from the Grave
5. Stormborn
6. We Raise the Dead
7. Made of Steel
8. Blood of My Blood
9. When the Kingdom Will Fall
10. Seven Hells
11. When All Lights Fall
