ALBUM REVIEW: Creatures Of The Dark Realm – Bloodbound
Power metal as a genre has always seemed to be about trying to do things bigger and more over-the-top than everything else and taking that as far as humanly possible. Recent times have seen massive growth, with the likes of SABATON ascending to festival-headline status off the back of their historical-themed take on the genre, and now fellow Swedes BLOODBOUND are another such act looking to make moves within the genre with their ninth studio album, Creatures Of The Dark Realm.
Coming a mere two years after the band’s previous album Rise Of The Dragon Empire, you’d be forgiven for wondering just how the band have managed to get another full-length together so soon, though any doubt as to quality is almost instantly blown away, as things take very little time to explode into full glorious power. Foreboding acoustic intro track The Creatures Prelude barely lasts 30 seconds before erupting into the record’s choruses-and-then-some title track, Creatures Of The Dark Realm, and then we’re off on a practically non-stop ride.
Vocalist Patrik Selleby immediately makes his mark from the very beginning; belting out the band’s fantasy lyrics with near Bruce Dickinson-esque power, while guitarists Tomas and Henrik Olsson eke out the first of an entire album’s worth of massively catchy leads. It’s cheesy to the absolute extreme, yes, but then again what else would you expect from a band who’ve been at it doing this exact thing since 2004?
Truth be told, this everything and the kitchen sink too approach is pretty much the formula BLOODBOUND follow for the entirety of the next ten tracks, though that’s not to be used as a criticism. The aforementioned vocals are probably the MVP of this album as it turns out, with Ever Burning Flame seeing Selleby taking on a soaring chorus lifted straight from the playbook of early-career DRAGONFORCE backed up with some expertly deployed gang vocals, whilst Eyes Come Alive’s verses see him going full-Rob Halford with some truly eye-watering highs that mightn’t have sounded too out of place on JUDAS PRIEST’s beloved Painkiller back in the day.
Shred fans will likely find immense joy in the blistering soloing on songs like The Gargoyles Gate and Face Of Evil, whilst on the complete opposite end, March Into War is about the closest the band ever come to slowing down across the album’s 12 songs – eschewing pace to instead stomp along with almost hilarious gusto; practically daring the listener to imagine BLOODBOUND can’t sound any more triumphant.
Creatures Of The Dark Realm doesn’t really do anything revolutionary within its genre, but there’s a sense that was hardly the point. What it does accomplish is delivering 45 minutes or so of some wonderfully campy fun that rarely dips from an impressively consistent quality, and delivers a whole host of new songs that should sound even better with crowds to bellow their towering choruses back at the band. A wholly worthwhile addition to the BLOODBOUND canon, this is definitely one that existing fans of the band are sure to love, and something for fans of all things power metal to give their time to.
Rating: 7/10
Creatures Of The Dark Realm is out now via AFM Records.
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