Last Updated on 10:30 PM by Giorgos Tsekas
Genre: Heavy Metal / Hard Rock
Country: Sweden
Label: Nuclear Blast
Year: 2014
4th full-length album for these Swedish guys, two years after – the very nice – “Full Pull”. “Storm of Blades” the new album’s title, it foreshadows, eloquently, the storm that lurks in the speakers of the unsuspecting listener. A storm you cannot escape wearing wind-coats or warm clothing, but it only takes a nice mood and an appetite for having fun. All the elements that established the band in the traditional Heavy Metal / street Hard Rock genre are still here. Memories from the most exponential moments of Judas Priest, the most vagrant of Saxon, vocals that were born by the unholy marriage of the late Bon Scott with Udo… Bullet has carved a specific course and it seems very difficult to diverge. I know that this isn’t always considered positive by some fans, but this is the case whether we like it or not.
Including all of the above influences, this time the band winks towards NWOBHM, and specifically its more “riffy” moments. From the one hand there is the song Riding High, in which the main theme refers directly to groups like Demon, Saracen, Hammer, Tyrant (UK) etc and on the other they chose to perform “This One’s For Yoy” by Stray, a band that I cannot explain how they uncovered them (e.n. Stray have released only one EP back in 1981!).
Anyway, listening to “Storm of Blades” several times, I started to keep notes for every song, but it was proven pointless to expatiate. There are no fillers. From the thunderous self titled song to the last note, there is not a single boring moment. The album is the ideal company for a Saturday night drinking beers or a road trip. Fans of Accept, AC/DC and the rest aforementioned can put their money on it without doubt. Whoever wants to listen to “something different” or doesn’t like clichés or whoever believes that a band “must evolve”, I‘m afraid that will be disappointed. Since I belong to the first category, I’ll give them five out of six skulls.
5/6