bloodbound: [A term that originates from the dark ages when men would make an oath to each other called a "blood oath" where they would each cut their hands and then shake, mixing the blood. Each man then carries the other's blood, linking the two, as blood brothers. A bloodbound can never be broken and will follow you into the afterlife and beyond...]
bloodbound was formed on midsummer's eve 2004 by Fredrik Bergh (Bass, Keyboards & Backing vocals) and Tomas Olsson (Lead & Rhythm Guitars). The pair had been blood brothers for many years and they had been playing in bands together on and off since the early nineties. The two strong believers in heavy metal music had mutual respect for each others musical and songwriting abilities and set aim to create the best and true metal music that had ever been written! The two musicians now started their search for fitting band members who had the musical skills, and also had the same belief in metal music. Bergh remembered his old acquaintance Urban Breed, the singer and front man from the band Tad Morose. Bergh and Breed had been talking about a possible musical collaboration at the end of 2002 and they had a couple of serious meetings about working together but nothing had come out of it. After a serious meeting with Breed he accepted the offer to join bloodbound as a permanent and full member, a blood brother. To find a drummer that matched the skill of the trio turned out to be almost impossible. After literally searching around the world with a flashlight, the torch finally ended up on the young and extremely talented Oskar Belin. A true natural, basically born with the drumsticks in his hands. Playing like a professional Jazz drummer at the age of 9 they had found their match and the last piece of the puzzle. bloodbound was now a perfect circle and the rest is history...

 NOSFERATU (2006) METAL HEAVEN/POINT MUSIC

This is a Swedish true metal band, mostly know as the band Urban Breed went to after leaving Tad Morose. Sadly he has already departed, but that is another story. The debut album, entitled 'Nosferatu', is filled to the brim with quality classic metal (which I'm sure will be called power metal by today's standards ), reminiscent of bands like Iron Maiden, Hammerfall and Nocturnal Rites. Other times, like in the song "Fallen From Grace" they have a definitive Helloween flavor. The title track alone is worth the admission, and the price of the CD!! It's super catchy, and with a delightful guitar-solo. Urban sounds amazing, with his smooth, yet strong metal voice. Not all of the songs are of equally high quality, but as a whole, they are a very convincing new act. Let's hope they can find a good replacement for Urban, and give it another go. The only thing I don't get is their image. They use corpse paint, and "evil"/mystic imagery, along with horror lyrics. I suppose they are trying to be tongue-in-cheek, not unlike Dream Evil, but they could at least have dropped the make-up. It's a good thing that I usually pay most attention to the music.

Killer tracks: Nosferatu, Metal Monster, Desdemonamelia, Fallen From Grace, In The Battlefield

BOOK OF THE DEAD (2007) METAL HEAVEN

After releasing a critically acclaimed debut, bloodbound nearly folded when 2 of the 4 members left. Tomas and Fredrik chose to venture on, and 3 new members were added to the ranks. So only a year later their sophomore album, entitled 'Book Of The Dead', was released.

The new album features Michael Bormann (Biss, Letter X, Jaded Heart etc.) as the bands new vocalist. He is more of a melodic metal/AOR vocalist, and doesn't have the power that Urban did. Alas, bringing him in has really changed the bands sound. However, he has a killer set of pipes nonetheless. And he does a great job on the album, with his whiskey soaked, coarse powerhouse style. 'Book Of The Dead' delivers thumping, galloping metal galore. The music is filled with clichés, and they are balancing on the edge between genre true and generic. I'm also uncertain whether or not they are doing this tongue-in-cheek (like Dream Evil), or if they are dead serious about the somewhat goofy, evil imagery. It's almost as if they are trying to be a kvlt and grim black metal band, only they are playing Euro-power metal instead!

I've listened a lot to this album because I loved 'Nosferatu' so much. But I've yet to decide how I really feel about it. As of writing these words I'm inclined to call this a rushed product, that really lacks in the songwriting department. But if you're a total Euro-power metal freak, I'm sure you'll like this album just fine. On the other hand, if this is a style you are really burned out on, then this album will definitely confirm to you the reasons why.

Killer tracks: Sign Of The Devil, The Tempter, Seven Angels

Related artists:

Tad Morose, Morgana Lefay, Pyramaze