As I write this I’m still recovering from a hangover caused by Finland trashing Sweden in the final of the Ice Hockey World Cup 6-1. For this review, however, I’m going to attempt to focus on something Sweden does a bit better than playing Ice Hockey: Heavy Metal.
As their compatriots Portrait, In Solitude falls into the same category of Swedish King Diamond Metal or ‘SKDM’. It’s not that vocalist Pelle Åhman has any falsetto-abilities, but his voice fits this record perfectly, keeping to the lower end of the high register (staying in tune most of the time too!) As with the King, we get some lower, harsher vocals, mixed perfectly to balance. With the lyrics being “personal and empirical poems based on wound and experience from intense black magical work and wandering”, we get something well worthwhile listening to. It even gives one a similar personal/emotional dark feeling as Primordial at times (whilst sounding nothing alike).
There has certainly been development since the debut, the band comments:
We are still quite amazed of how life-threatening and beautiful this piece of work turned out. We don't want anyone to expect anything besides growth - which is essential, musically and lyrically and it will speak for itself.
The album sound and atmosphere is certainly darker and it seems that all of the musicians have improved technically. Guitar duo Lindström/Palm also possess a perfect Sherman/Denner/LaRoque touch. We also get the great song-writing we’ve come to expect. However, songs are longer and more complex, with added psychedelic passages mixed with the purest energy of NWOBHM. Drums roll with the music, but are more progressive than, for example with the above-mentioned Portrait (I find myself isolating other instruments in my head for a wee focused listen). Track-length is on average between five and seven minutes and whilst this makes the album less accessible, it is exactly what’s to intriguing. The more I listen to it, the better it gets.
The above-mentioned sound is quite different from the debut as well, having been recorded at Nicke Anderson's new studio Gutterview Recorders and produced by Fred Estby (Dismember, Death Breath). With Portrait recording at Necromorbus, In Solitude also follow suite flirting with the extreme side of things production-wise. And again it works perfectly.
With the new works of the King Petersen himself being void of the old inspiration from the early hey-days, it it’s brilliant to see young bands pick up on their style and play it, accepting the plagiarism rooted in their very foundation. But they take it further and make it their own (way past trend). I must admit that it took me a while to get into this one, but after giving it a few days rest, I finally realized the awesomeness of this release. The length of 58 minutes is totally justified and works perfectly as one entity. This one’s not one of those ‘few-listens’ hit albums… frankly I don’t think I’ve enjoyed a Heavy Metal album this much in quite a while. I hate it when people say this (conclusion of like 50% of album reviews), but it’s definitely contender for top 5 albums of the year.
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Miika Virtanen
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