BLOODBOUND — Unholy Cross

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BLOODBOUND - Unholy Cross cover
3.75 | 6 ratings | 2 reviews
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Album · 2011

Filed under Power Metal
By BLOODBOUND

Tracklist

1. Moria (5:40)
2. Drop the Bomb (3:56)
3. The Ones We Left Behind (5:21)
4. Reflections of Evil (4:21)
5. In for the Kill (4:29)
6. Together We Fight (5:21)
7. The Dark Side of Life (3:58)
8. Brothers of War (5:06)
9. Message from Hell (3:30)
10. In the Dead of Night (4:01)
11. Unholy Cross (4:46)

Total time 50:29

Line-up/Musicians

- Patrik "Pata" Johansson / Vocals
- Tomas Olsson / Guitars
- Henrik Olsson / Guitars
- Anders Broman / Bass Guitar
- Fredrik Bergh / Keyboards
- Pelle Åkerlind / Drums

with

- Anthony Maverick / Backing Vocals

About this release

Released on March 18, 2011, on AFM.

Thanks to Time Signature for the addition and adg211288 for the updates

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BLOODBOUND UNHOLY CROSS reviews

Specialists/collaborators reviews

adg211288
Unholy Cross is the fourth full-length album from Swedish Power Metal band Bloodbound. Released in 2011 it is the first release from the band to feature the vocals of Patrik "Pata" Johansson, who is also the frontman for fellow Power Metal act Dawn of Silence. He replaces Urban Breed as Bloodbound’s vocalist however, so there’s big boots to fill here. Fortunately he’s a great power metal singer in his own right, and his voice is very fitting to Bloodbound’s music. He doesn’t sound that different to Edguy/Avantasia vocalist Tobias Sammet actually.

Kicking off the album in style is the excellent track, Moria, which has a great intro that builds up into the band’s Euro Power Metal style. Once the band gets going the sound is a staple of what the album is all about. It’s not the most intense power metal sound I ever came across, but neither does it stay too far into what some consider to be ‘flower metal’ territory. The sound of the instruments fits just right with the vocal, with the guitars being much more dominant in the sound than the keyboards, which should sit well with fans of USPM as well as Euro Power Metal. There is also a very strong influence from traditional heavy metal on the album as well, to the point that I can’t really decide if the release is more dominantly heavy or power metal. Either way, it’s a real cracker or a release that I think fans of the more classic metal sounds will lap up.

The writing on the album is pretty consistent, although naturally there are a few songs that stand as a cut above the others, such as Drop the Bomb and Reflections of Evil, but there is also the odd track which takes the smallest of dips in quality, such as The Ones We Left Behind. The writing is somewhat commercially inclined in that there are plenty of chorus where singing along is possible, and I can imagine them working well in the live environment.

Unholy Cross all in all is a fairly standard metal release, but a solid one. There is little variation to the formula of the songs, except every now and then you get one crop up with a faster tempo and makes the track sound heavier, although the production prevents it from becoming majorly heavier, as the band have gone for more of a retro sound to the album. The only drastically different track is Brothers of War, which is a ballad that appears late in the album. There are many great tracks on the album though despite its formulated nature and I’m left feeling very impressed with Bloodbound’s 2011 effort. In the thought of a straight up heavy/power metal album appeals to you, then you couldn’t go far wrong with Bloodbound’s Unholy Cross, as it is one of the best more ‘standard’ albums of its kind I’ve heard. Although the band doesn’t stray from any comfort zone, I kind of like that every now and then, rather than hear heavy/power metal bands trying to merge several genres together (especially if they try to merge with extremer forms of metal) and end up releasing a mess, which, sadly, can happen all too often.

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven, scoring 8.3/10)
Time Signature
Drop the bomb...

Genre: retro powe rmetal

BloodBound are not afraid of sounding old-fashioned and dated, and that's what I like about them.

Their style combined early German power metal with more traditional heavy metal, and I think that this choice of retro style is a conscious one driven by a fascination with the metal of the previous generation.

They draw extensively on classic metal style riffage and the slightly neoclassical elements that Helloween flirted with back in the day and helped cement into power metal. The vocals are grandiose but also melodic and catchy - especially in the choruses. Patric Johanneson's voice is not as delicate as with many other power metal vocalists, which gives his voice a dimension of power and rock 'n' roll.

Cheesiness is a stable feature of power metal, and Bloodbound's music is also s bit cheesy, but not so much that it disturbs my overall experience of the music.

Not all bands can get away with a retro style, and just end up sounding like a hollow copy of the legends of the 80s. BloodBound are somewhat successful, as tracks like "Drop the Bomb", "Reflections of Evil", "Message from Hell", "In the Dead of Night" and the title track are pretty awesome, but other tracks like "Moria" and "Brothers of War" sound pretty uninspired.

All in all, a quite good retro album from very talented musicians, and I am sure that it will appeal to many fans of power metal and traditional metal.

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