Holy Target

If you enjoy Swedish Black/Death metal bands like Sacramentum, Dissection, Vinterland, Lord Belial, Dawn, Necrophobic or Allegiance and still have not heard this album, then you are missing out on just another fine addition to this now uniquely well defined local genre. Spite of their somewhat silly image along with the cheesy “War to Christianity” themes and song titles, this band delivers high quality metal in the vein of all the above mentioned.

Raise Hell picked up right where Sacramentum left off with their astonishing "The Coming of Chaos" album. The music is complex and dynamic showing how well these young Swedes can structure songs. All songs are extremely energetic taking the listener through blastbeats to endless doublebass along with the heaviest and catchiest riffs Sweden can deliver. Melodies are also a strong factor here, they flow elegantly throughout the entire piece without boring you or making it sound just another clone mediocre band.

The Tägtgren brother’s production is excellent. Every instrument sounds clear. The guitar work is very typical of its kind, being dynamic, uplifting and unpredictable. The vocals could have been much better since Jonas Nilsson isn’t the best choice for a vocalist to this type of act, and that is why I am not giving this album a perfect score. Regardless of the somewhat weak vocals, this underrated album isn’t far at all from being one of the best of its kind.