Unholy Cross

Listening to "Unholy Cross", Bloodbound's new work, makes me feel awkward. The band that debuted with a splendid power metal album, "Nosferatu", has been somewhat strange ever since, and since I enjoyed their prog approach in "Tabula Rasa", I'm stunned with their more traditional and straight forward approach in "Unholy Cross".

Stunned and conquered.

From the very start with "Moria", the album shows an impressive melodic vein with memorable and epic choirs that invite immediate headbanging and sing-alongs. "Drop The Bomb" follows and it's simply phenomenal with a certain hint of Hammerfall. That chorus is simply overwhelming. By the time we reach "The Ones We Left Behind", we're ready for anything, but not for the epic tone of this great anthem with moderate speed and assertive riffing to give it a certain grandeur.

And that's how you get three lessons on how to raise your fist, three songs very well-composed and structured, and each with a mandatory climax. The tunes that follow, "Reflections Of Evil", "In For The Kill", and all the way to the end with the darker "Unholy Cross", including the ballad "Brothers Of War" and the hyper-melodic "The Dark Side Of Life", always show a band capable of composing memorable songs with enough variation so they won't fall into the dark pit of the speed cliche, creating a perfect mix of power and melodic metal. There simply won't be a single song that won't stick in your head right away on this whole album where Bloodbound kick you in the balls and say they can play whatever they damn well want to.

Behind the microphone, Patrik Johansson (Dawn Of Silence) suits to perfection the band's return to the past with a tone higher than Urban Breed's and enormous melodic potential that's a bit gritty as well. He reminds me somewhat of Tobias Sammet and listening to "Unholy Cross", I get the feeling that power metal didn't have these kinds of infectious choruses since "Vain Glory Opera" or the first Avantasia. Edguy or Gamma Ray are indeed some of the notable influences on this album that aren't particularly innovative, but are solid as steel, very well-composed, better performed, and completely addictive.

If you're one of those who missed the band from "Nosferatu", "Unholy Cross" is undoubtedly the album you want. For all other power metal fans, "Unholy Cross" is the best album in the genre I've heard this year so far and is a mandatory acquisition. How they can top this, I don't know, but I'm almost certain they will.

This review was written for: http://www.rockheavyloud.com