Showing posts with label Malmö. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Malmö. Show all posts

Sunday, 21 January 2018

Thungur - No Going Back (CD)




Here’s a new and modern sounding power pack called Thungur (heavy in Icelandic - remember Jorn’s Thungur Knivur - Heavy Knife), which I for some reason though were from Iceland, when it turns out they reside in Malmö, an hour from me. They were previously called Bend And Break, under which monicker they releaed two streaming albums. The album kicks off with the de-tuned riffing of "White Lies" sounding quite akin to fellows Corroded. Heavy, yet melodic, drop tuned hard rock with solid clean, albeit somewhat angry, vocals. Kristjan Samuelsson is a really great singer with a versatile voice, going all death metal in the verse of "Pink Champagne", but cleaning it up in the chorus. This track is all way darker and heavier than some of the other tracks. Guitarist Björn Stegerling doesn’t dwell in long guitar solos. If there’s even any, they are short and simple. His rhythm work is powerful as a brick wall, and his production likewise. Bassist Roger Nielsen and drummer Andreas Albihn backs him up with killer groove and heaviness. The songs are quite straightforward at a first glance, but there are some great quirky twists popping up here and there. Sometimes they sound a bit like the missing link between Black Label Society and Shinedown, which ain’t a bad thing in my book.

Tuesday, 25 November 2014

(GAELERI) – Gates Of Rome (CD)


Heldingborg based melodic hard rockers (gaeleri) was formed under the name Shooting Gallery back in 1992, shortened the name to the phonetic (gaeleri) and made their debut back in 1996, followed by Still Here in 1999 and A Brighter Day in 2002. The first two were classic melodic hard rock with hints of bands like Whitesnake and Zeppelin, while the last one was very commercial and a far cry from the first two. The band disappeared, but suddenly a new album has now seen the light of day. To my great joy I find the band has returned to their early, heavier sound again. The album kicks off with the two kick ass rockers “Ready Or Not” and “Queen Of Time”, followed by the more mainstream AOR number “Wannabe”. The title track puts the balls back in place with its chunky rhythm and cool rocking, but still melodic, vibe.”Let Your Love Bleed” opens with rifforama in the vein of 1987 Whitesnake, with a cool bluesy verse and singer Anders Vidhav sounding quite reminiscent of Stefan Berggren (Company Of Snakes, Snakes In Paradise etc). Good stuff, indeed! The mix, by Anders “Theo” Theander is ambient and quite analogue sounding. If you’re into what Swedish colleagues Angeline and Colorstone are doing, check this bunch out as well! Great melodic, guitar-based hard rock!
Janne Stark
Country: Sweden

Year: 2014
Label: TBM Records