LOMMI – Life In Sepia (CD paper pocket)

Not sure about the name, but it may be a pun on Tony Iommi (whom we sometimes used to call Tommi Lommi). Anyway, brace yourselves for this new Swedish power trio featuring drummer Jörgen Tjusling and bassist Dennis Österdal who have played (and play) with bands like Eaglestrike and Human Race. A tight rhythm section indeed. This time they are fronted by singer/guitarist Jens Florén and form a trio who is more in the vein of Black Label Society in degree of heaviness, but with some elements reminding me a bit of early Alice In Chains in songs like Suffer. It’s all very raw, untamed and crude, but in a good way. I’m not always 100 % into the vocals, but for the most part Jens does the job really well. At times I’m a bit torn between feeling it’s a bit too crude, like in Honesty and Leaver, but I still digging it. It’s a bit like when I heard Motörhead for the first time, like watching a horror movie through your fingers, if you know what I mean. And Motörhead did grow into a long term musical friend of mine. Powerless Consciousness reminds me a bit like playing a Pantera single on 33, it sort of reminds of Walk, but slower and heavier. Back From the Dead is a really cool rocker, starting out almost reminding me a bit of Ghost, which only goes for the intro. A great chunky rocker indeed. It’s a weird album in the sense that it’s no favorite of mine, but I still keep coming back to it. I think we have a love/hate relationship. A good one, that is. 
Janne Stark
Year: 2012
Country: Sweden
Label: private release 

RAWBURT - Tropheus (CDR 7tr)

Rawburt is a pretty new Göteborg (Gothenburg) metal unit lead by former Human Race guitarist Robert Hansson. The band also features bass player Jörgen Raneström and drummer Jörgen Tjusling. On the first, outstanding, demo the vocals were handled by Björn Larsson (Two Rocks, Ride The Sky etc), but on this effort Robert has brought back his old Human Race colleague Stefano Marchesini. I really loved Björn’s vocals and was at first a bit worried how Stefan would fit this instalment, which is a bit more metal than his previous work with Robert. Well, after having heard the opening bass crusher In For The Kill, my worries were totally shattered. Stefano does a killer job! In the verse of second track Burning he actually reminds me a bit of Jorn Lande. Holy crap, that song has some devastatingly heavy riffs! The cool thing is that the verses are really smooth. I don’t know what band to really compare to, it’s more that Rawburt (not so convinced when it comes to the band name though…) has picked some bits and pieces from here and there. There’s a bit of Zakk Wylde in some guitar parts, some Jorn in other parts, a bit of Primal Fear in some more metal moments, a touch of Rammstein in one song, but there are also some parts I can’t really place. The songs aren’t complicated or extremely unique, BUT holy crap – they ROCK! The song material is top notch and in combination with the outstanding mix of Solan Gundersen (who?? – this guy should be a star!) this could be one hell of an album! So, my tip of the day – let Stefano re-record the vocals of the first tracks and release this as the album of the year! Yes, it IS that good! …and I want a ManDelKubb amplifier if they all sound this good!
Janne Stark
Label: private
Country: Sweden
Year: 2011
Link:http://www.rawburt.com