EP REVIEW: Return Of The Arsonist – Blood Command

BLOOD COMMAND feel like the very definition of a cult band in 2019. Despite their last two albums receiving all kinds of critical acclaim the band are still a relatively underground prospect. Now they are back with a new EP that condenses their deathpop sound into seven explosive tracks, resulting in one of the most exciting releases of the year.

Return Of The Arsonist leans a little more towards the punk end of BLOOD COMMAND‘s sound, songs rarely stretch beyond the three-minute mark and the intensity never drops. Opening track Don’t Strike A Match, Use The Lighter features the only moment of calm on the entire EP. Quiet synths gradually build as an intro for the first half of the track before the band come tearing in. Every track here is bursting with energy, whether is the moments of pure aggression of when they go for melodic moments. The energy is just infectious.

S01E02.Return.Of.The.Arsonist.720p.HDTV.x264 brilliantly shows off everything BLOOD COMMAND are capable of, with it’s infectious pop melodies backed by raw punk aggression in the music. The “Woahs” on the chorus will no doubt worm their way into the listeners ear by the end of the song. Karina Ljone‘s vocal performance here really elevates things too. She injects so much energy into every track on this EP. There’s enough variety to her vocals that helps keep things interesting.

Return Of The Arsonist is somewhat of a successor to their 2011 EP Hand Us The Alphamale and comparing the two shows just how far BLOOD COMMAND have come in the eight years between them. They have just refined their songwriting and have made things a little more straightforward, but this also makes the songs more memorable. And there are still tracks like Ritual Knife which is just a minute of pure aggression and certainly wouldn’t have felt out of place on their early releases.

Return Of The Arsonist never quite reaches the brilliant heights of Cult Drugs. It feels like there’s less experimentation and where that album was a huge leap forward for the band, this feels like more of the same. That certainly isn’t a bad thing as BLOOD COMMAND are still one of the most brilliantly unique bands around. However if you weren’t on board already this EP is unlikely to change your mind. Return Of The Arsonist is another strong addition of BLOOD COMMAND‘s catalogue that fans will no doubt have plenty of love for. It doesn’t give much away for where the band will go with their next album but this never feels like a lazy release just thrown out between albums. BLOOD COMMAND‘s uniqueness still shines through and that makes this far more interesting than any other run of the mill pop-punk release.

Rating: 7/10

Return Of The Arsonist is out now via Fysisk Format. 

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