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Bloodbound-Unholy Cross (AFM)
I’ve always had a soft spot for the clear, punchy vocals of Urban Breed, ex-singer for Tad Morose and current Pyramaze frontman.
With that said, I approached Bloodbound’s fourth LP with a certain amount of trepidation. Luckily, new vocalist Patrick Johansson does his best to fill Breed’s shoes, and does so with proper taste, class and power.
Bloodbound benefits greatly from Johansson’s slight Germanic tone and approach-sounding slightly like Helloween’s Andi Deris at times-with Unholy Cross serving as a stately reminder of how this sort of melodic, approachable metal can still sound quite traditional and pleasing, without the cheese.
Mixing old school Accept and Rage-isms with a healthy dose of Americanized power metal a la Savatage, Unholy Cross doesn’t exactly win any awards for originality or uniqueness overall, yet the album serves as a suitably strong candidate for fans of the style, delivering practically all a follower should desire from this very Euro-centered heavy metal madness. Eliminating much of the speedy, neo-classical style of a Stratovarious or Yngwie Malmsteen, Bloodbound instead approaches their music from the perspective of The Riff and The Song, celebrating mid-paced choruses and chugging, simply effective verse structures.
Overall a solid effort from a dependable band.
Rating: B
Written by MetalGeorge
Tags: Accept, bloodbound, german speed metal, Helloween, metalgeorge, power metal, Rage, Reviews, Savatage, scanner, tad morose
