Swedish power metal band BLOODBOUND has gathered an impressive following since the band debuted on the scene in 2006 with “Nosferatu”. In 2011, BLOODBOUND joined the AFM Records roster and since became more and more successful with every new release. BLOODBOUND and AFM now proudly announce the continuation of their long-term relationship.
The band’s early albums “Book Of The Dead” and “Unholy Cross” will now finally see the release on Vinyl: both titles are limited to 300 units each (“Unholy Cross” in yellow, “Book Of The Dead” in clear (double) Vinyl) and out on March 30th.
Also, the band’s latest, chartbreaking studio album “War Of Dragons” saw its 2nd Vinyl edition earlier this year, being available on red/yellow splatter Vinyl now (also limited to 300 units).
Bloodbound’s Fredrik Bergh comments:
]]>“We are very happy to have extended our contract with AFM Records. We feel they are the perfect labels for us. AFM have a love for our kind of music and they give us artistic freedom. Unlike other labels they let us do what we wanna do, without trying to change the formula. We are continuously growing as a band and last year AFM did a stellar job putting “War Of Dragons” in the album charts in Germany, Switzerland and Sweden. We are looking forward to taking Bloodbound to the next level together with AFM Records!”
The first song I heard of the new album was ‘Before We Waste Away’, a very melodic mid tempo track with a very commercial refrain, an excellent guitar solo, but not a real hammer. It made me think too much of their worst album The 8th Sin. Was this was the harbinger of the complete album? The next song I could listen to was ‘A Heart As Black As Coal’, which is the opener of Phoenix. The song opens with heavy, low tuned guitars, but then some modern sounding rhythm and chugs follow. The very cheesy refrain and rhythm almost makes it sound like a pop song. After this second acquaintance with the new album I felt even less excited. ‘The Poisonous Seed’ was next. This is one of my favorites and one of the best songs on the album. It is a faster track reminding me a bit of their best work. There are some Eastern tunes and I have to think of the band Kamelot several times. With new member Per Nillson we also don’t need to worry about the guitar solos, as he does a great job on the entire album.
If the rest of the songs are in the same style as this third track, there is still hope! Next up is ‘Repent My Sins’, but this still didn’t convince me. The song has a nice melody, but I miss the aggression and perhaps passion. It sounds a bit too average, even the beautiful solo can’t save the song. Then yet another rather slow track ‘What’s Killing Me’ follows. This even would be one of the weaker ones on their The 8th Sin album! ‘A Song For You’ combines slower and faster parts, contains excellent melodic vocals of Jonny, but again the rather modern sounds irritate me. ‘The Ghost Inside Me’ fortunately has some faster parts, but like ‘A Song For You’ it doesn’t reach the high quality Nocturnal Rites can reach. Especially the choir singing and the almost aCapella part of Jonny isn’t my cup of tea.
‘Nothing Can Break Me’ is too poppy, modern sounding and melodic and the worst song on the album. Is this the band that I liked so much? In my opinion the band tried to be too commercial and modern, forgetting to put real power and aggression in their songs. The Ballad ‘Flames’ has excellent vocals and is a rather o.k. song. Lucky for me and the band, the bonus song ‘Used To Be God’ and closing track ‘Welcome To The End’ save the album for getting an even lower rating. This last two songs are exactly in the style I want to hear Nocturnal Rites. Both songs are rather fast and more power metal than the melodic modern metal with sing along refrains they serve in most of the songs on this album. This reminds me more of their strongest Afterlife and Shadowland period.
All in all, Phoenix is not the album and style I expected from Nocturnal Rites. For me it is too modern sounding, too many cheesy refrains, not aggressive enough, and a lot of songs I even wouldn’t call power metal anymore. Modern melodic metal would be a better description. I know many will not agree with my rating. Only their earlier albums and my respect for the band saved them from even a lower rating. For me the album has too many slow and mid-tempo songs, it has some modern rhythms I just don’t like, and I miss the aggression and some really well written songs. Sorry, but not the comeback I expected!
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