Coldharbour – Subject & Symmetry (MCD)

UK three-piece Coldharbour has just released their debut EP and it’s a pretty nice installment, I must say. Stylewise, they are a bit hard to pinpoint (which I like). There’s a bit of metal, a bit of prog, a bit of post-grunge, a bit of metalcore, a slice of nu-metal and various other bits and pieces thrown into the mix. To be honest opening track “Blackest Days” didn’t grab me that hard and I wasn’t entirely impressed, fearing the worst. However, already in the second track “Hour Of The Wolf” it picks up and some cool and powerful guitar riffs grab my attention. It’s almost a stoner vibe to this one, which I really like. Fat riffs, me like! I also like the clean, but quite powerful vocals. Third track, “Dorje’s Wish” is a powerful, proggy heavy rocker with a hint of Twelve Foot Ninja. Another great number! “Somewhere To Call Your Own” starts off as a slow and ballady number, but soon the guitar power chords come crashing in. A bit too nu-metal for my taste, though, and not really my cup of tea, I must admit. “Battlestar Spectacular” brings back in some hard and heavy staccato riffing, almost with a touch of Pantera to it, while the verse goes off in a totally different direction which is cool. This is definitely one of my favorite tracks! A powerful stomper, but still with lots of musical twists and turns that makes it an interesting listen. The closer “Fall Away” is another crusher, but with a cool dynamic verse that takes it down, builds it up and the throws in the power gear, but still with a lot of melody. All in all, a really good effort and a new band to keep a look-out for. The production is good but could do well with a bit more bottom and power in the sound, which would bring this up yet another a notch. Great vocals, great band (lacking guitar solos, though) and the song material is well above average.

Janne Stark

Country: UK

Year: 2019

Label: Self-released

Link: https://www.facebook.com/ColdHarbourUK/

LOMMI – Horse (CD)

2013 saw the debut release “Life In Sepia” by Gothenburg brutality trio Lommi. A self-release in paper pocket format. The follow-up has however received a proper release by Rambo Music. The band follows the beaten path with their brick heavy, riff-oriented groovy metal. They sound a bit like a mix of Black Label Society and Pantera, actually not that far from fellows Transport League. Detuned riffs and crude, but still vocals that have enough melody to make it sound melodic. The sound is heavy as concrete with powerful thundering drums, a bass that fills out every crevice and a wall of guitars (even though there’s only one) right in your face. Outstanding production, by Sven Jensen! So far, so good. My only complaint this time is, the songs. They could have had it all going form them if they had only got me with the songs as well. If only a song like “Back Of My Head” had been the low point of the album. I’ve listened through the album three times and there’s unfortunately not one song I remember after wards. Love the sound, love the band, but miss the memorable hooks.

Janne Stark

Country: Sweden

Year: 2014
Label: Rambo Music

SKULL PARADE – Sound Of Corruption (CD)

“Sound Of Corruption” is the debut by heavy rockers Skull Parade.  They stem from Gothenburg, just like Mustasch, In Flames, LOK, Transport League and Illwill, and for some reason they actually sound a bit like a mix of all of these. Well, to narrow it down a bit I’d go for a mix between today’s Transport League and Illwill. Heavy, crushing groove metal with a touch of thrash and US power metal (which is what Pantera used to be labelled). Erik Anell has a rough and angry, but still a bit melodic voice that fits the concrete heavy musical delivery perfect. One of my favorite tracks is the heavy and groovy “Man” where Erik really delivers the goods. Great chorus as well! The punchy, heavy production really helps bring out the best of the band, too. I don’t really get the artwork, but I do get the music! Great stuff!

Janne Stark

Label: private

Year: 2014
Country: Sweden

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 

CORRODED - State Of Disgrace (CD)

Corroded is one helluva force to be reckoned with. I’ve always liked their records, but after seeing them live the feeling was enhanced. This band is no studio product. They deliver, and they deliver with confidence and power. Corroded are for real! State Of Disgrace proves it even more. Twelve songs, twelve statements, twelve melodic hard rocking songs that kick ass. From up-tempo rockers like I Will Not, to heavy crunchy, yet melodic numbers such as I Am God, the beautiful balladry of Beautiful Revolution, to the powerful Pantera:iash riffing in Believe In Me. Throw Pantera, Shinedown and Sevendust in a blender and add some Swedish originality, and you have Corroded. A great powerful album that’s just another proof of this band’s greatness. A killer album indeed!
Janne Stark
Label: NineTone
Year: 2012
Country: Sweden

BLOODLIT - Take What's Mine (MCD)

Bloodlit is another new Swedish act releasing a ton of bricks in the shape of a six-track MCD. The band kicks off with Take What’s Mine, which sets the pace with its steamroller riffing in the vein of colleagues Mustasch. Serf In USA continues in the same brutal vein, but adding a touch of good old Pantera brutality. The singer is quite similar to Ralf Gyllenhammar of Mustasch which fits the music just fine. Still I Feel takes it all down quite a few notches, to a ballad level. A really good track with a bit cleaner vocals showing a nice melodic feel. A great track, indeed! Atrocity kicks the nuts back in place again with its full throttle four to the floor up-tempo battering ram style rockin’. The last two tracks just adds to the brew and makes this a really good debut from this Swedish five-piece.
Janne Stark
Country: Sweden
Year: 2011
Label: private

ABSORBING THE PAIN - H3ads Up (CD)

Damn, someone put a big phat sledgehammer in my mailbox. It said “Absorbing The Pain – H3ads Up” on it. This is the third album from this Swedish power pack. In my review of the previousl album, Songs Of Hate With Love”, I compared the band to Black Label Society with singer Jonas a bit reminiscent of Band Of Spice singer Christian “Spice” Sjöstrand. I still stand by that statement. The band has simply written another bunch of ball-breaking tracks in the same tradition, but without repeating themselves. Despite the concrete heavy riffing there are melodies, and with melodies I don’t mean any cheesy pop-lines, but classic hard rock melodies. The track Dimetime reminded me a bit of the best tracks of the last B-Thong album (where Mustasch’s Gyllenhammar had taken over the vocals), but with a chorus that owes more to Pantera in their prime. There are riffs here that gives me goosbumps, like the phat seven string treatment in Bully and Basement. The latter has a really cool verse, with a quite unexpected floating style. Hollow adds some acoustic guitars to the platter. The song is quite cool, but I’m not really one hundred percent into the vocals on this one. Jonas’ vocals are otherwise one of the strong points on the album. Peo also gets to show some good solid guitar shreddding, here as well. No use going through all the songs, simply because they all rock, each one in its own way. Sure, it’s heavy as hell, but it’s still quite diverse. A killer album, again!
Janne Stark
Label: Samsound/Rambo
Country: Sweden
Year: 2012
 

DEATHDESTRUCTION - Deathdestruction (CD)

Brutal! To be honest this is not 100 % what I’m into. Still I can really get into the heavy groove and the riffs. Deathdestruction reminds me quite a bit of Pantera in their later days. The vocals by Jimmie Strimmel sound highly inspired by Phil Anselmo, especially in songs like Fuck Yeah and Kill It! You will probably recognize Jimmie’s name from bands like Dead By April, Nightrage and Cipher System. The other members are boys of great musical breeding as well. Guitarist Henrik Danhage, drummer Jonas Ekdahl and bass player Fredrik Larsson are all ex-Evergrey. Fredrik Larsson is of course also found in Hammerfall. Deathdestruction is nothing even remotely close to their former employers. The album is angry! It will bite you in the ass if you put it on and turn your back on it. It will shred your speakers and leave your sub woofer gasping for air. It sounds like they have taken Pantera’s sound and put a turbo charger on it. It’s heavier, fatter and with way more balls to the drum sound. The band made their debut with a live-EP and to be honest this album does sound very stripped down and live as well. No unnecessary overdubs, no wimpy harmony vocals. This is raw, this is brutal, and surprisingly enough I really find myself getting into this. It’s nothing for the faint hearted though – it’s Deathdestruction!
Janne Stark
Label: Sony Music
Country: Sweden
Year: 2011
Link: http://deathdestruction.com/

CELLOUT - Superstar Prototype (CD)

Cellout is a Swedish combo I’ve followed since their demo days. Finally their debut has hit the streets and I’m not disappointed. Modern, heavy and melodic. This may sound like a general description of quite a few of today’s heavy/nu oriented bands. Well, to be honest, Cellout don’t differ so much from much of what the American recording market gives us today with bands like Sevendust, Trapt, Alter Bridge, Nickelback etc. But, nevertheless, I really like this. Cellout do what they do and they do it really well. Unlike Trapt, who are a carbon copy of Nickelback, Cellout at least give it their own stamp and in some tracks they add a heavier edge to the package. They stretch the boundaries a bit. For instance “All My Demons Inside” almost has a touch of “Dark Tranquillity” in some of the guitar rhythm parts, and “Set Things Straight” is a helluva battering ram. The mix, by Ulrich Wild (Seething, Pantera), is really fat and heavy, yet quite ambient at times. “The Gift” for instance shows some great layers in the verse part, before the detuned guitars crush all barriers in the melodic chorus. Highly recommended!
By: Janne Stark
Label: Nuerra Records
Year: 2010