Formed in 2004 in Sweden, these power metallers have forged fire with many a big name in their career so far, including tours with Hammerfall, Arch Enemy, Dark Tranquillity, Evergrey, and Sabaton but not forgetting special stage performances with legends like Paul DiAnno.
You normally think “business as usual” for many a power metal band. From the opening track ‘Sweet Dreams of Madness’, there appears to be a more meaty professional approach to this bands sound. The vocals from Urban Breed (Pyramaze, Tad Morose) bring more balls of steel to the proceedings, powerful and epic at the same time, not the wishy-washy weakness you sometimes have in this genre. The solo licks and deep melodic passages during ‘Dominion 5’ certainly bring out the atmosphere, and give the speedier passages a much-accomplished break. Yes there are the power metal shredding influences (‘Twisted Kind of Fate’ – the solo is so monumental you will need a strobe light to watch the notes being played), but I also find with the many variations on the songs Bloodbound brings a progressive virtuoso attack to the frontline, if you will a darker side of power metal. Is this a case of the infamous “difficult third album”? Absolutely not in these Swedes case file.
Uplifting moments continue with the third track ‘Take One’ (also available as a free download on their website) and this album now has me hooked wondering where it shall go next. I mentioned earlier the progressive elements, well that’s not totally an accurate statement, but to me I do hear some influence of Savatage and early Queensryche in the arrangements along with the usual suspects in the Swedish power metal scene. It just has more depth to the recording, I again put this down to the clever arrangements and strong vocal presentation. The band themselves handle the production themselves, and this is a very wise move, balanced perfectly and complimenting the music to its full effect. The thing that strikes me is the way that the riffs and melodic parts are broken down but then integrated to the remainder of the track with an effortless flow.
More magical songs come out of the bag, such as the mesmerizing ‘Night Touches You’ and the fully fluid ‘Master of My Dreams’. This is an album of musical ability at its best, filled with memorable melodies and the kind of hooks that would make the sparsest fishing expedition become a plentiful bounty. This is truly a mountainous listen and for me on my first Bloodbound outing, a great find a great band and a great album.
http://www.bloodbound.se/
http://www.myspace.com/bloodboundonline
http://www.blisteringrecords.se
