Ελληνικά
Genre: Heavy Metal/Rock ‘N Roll
Country: Sweden
Label: the Sign Records
Year: 2018
The beat generation was able to encapsulate a whole era within the marginal personas described in the stories of Kerouac and Burroughs, where the losers of life became heroes at the end. All these stories unwound under the sounds of intoxicating jazz, and clearly affected both the hippies and the punks -later on- to a great extent. Heavy metal shifted from being the music of the industrial workers and rebellious youth to a soundtrack of the bourgeois, their spoiled kids and middle-aged men who (in vain) refuse to grow up. At the same time, the daily struggle for a better life and future reveals an increasing number of fighters on every corner of the globe, even for minor issues, whose story is worth listening to and one could potentially identify her/himself with that fighter. We are neither outcasts of life, nor compulsory losers; we all fall in love, have our insecurities, our problems, our joys, our anxieties, and our special things. Just like everybody else, we belong to the losers/winners coupling as Accept would say. Despite the different situations each one of us has experienced, and despite our different backgrounds, our lives seem miserable ordinary and common because in our struggle for life we only manage to survive. I do not reject the fantastic, and I love the allegory, which is of course necessary, but I think that songs like Charlotte The Harlot (Iron Maiden), The Chase Is Better Than The Catch (Motörhead) orDry County (Bon Jovi) fit better to the style of Iron Lamb. Their rock ‘n’ roll performance steps on the Motörhead heritage, both soundwise and lyrically, meaning superficial lyrics and few words but to the point. Following minimal principles or rather dirty realism if you like, and without being obscene, they manage with simplicity to represent a reality that concerns every listener without pompous lyrics or resorting to any kind of excess. Let’s not focus more on the lyrics, since the music is what lifts off the Swedes. Musically, they are able to integrate all their influences into their totally -after three studio albums- personal sound by interpreting their references impressively instead of copying them dogmatically. They don’t deny their punk roots and extreme past as they filter it with a street mindset by introducing a multitude of rock and roll elements with N.W.O.B.H.M. interventions and 70’s rock melodies that create a flawless effect. Blue Haze consists of 8 excellent tracks so it makes no sense to just quote my personal favorite titles. Most people are victims of our own excesses and weaknesses. I have to admit that for some people my review might be a bit too much. Listening to Blue Haze is an irrefutable element that acquits me as far as exaggeration is concerned, but condemns me to that of personal weakness…
5/6
