|
|
|
|
The Swedish band Astral Doors has already released four CDs and after hearing Astralism I bow my head in shame for never having heard of them before.
As the band says, they are inspired by the spirit of the good old Rainbow, Deep Purple, Dio and so on. And indeed, the music on Astralism is a metal melting pot of early Dio, Rainbow and Black Sabbath based speedy and melodic metal, with the right touch of aggression, great riffs and cool solos. The whole release is a single kick in your ass, from the very first riff to the last note, even when there are two or three songs that can not hold the high quality level of the other songs. Astral Doors never want to hide these more than prominent influences and managed to show their own artistic individuality and ideas at the very same time.
Vocalist Patrik Johansson can definitely be seen as the real follower of Ronnie James Dio and he is surely one of the best singers on the fields of this genre, showing his own characteristics and vocal skills on each song.
I would not say that they created something totally new, but listen to songs like Israel, Apocalypse revealed or From Satan with love and then tell me: Who cares?
This is simply fucking great metal. No “look how avantgarde I am” – attitude, no championship of “who can integrate the most styles into one song”, just a metal punch into your face, a tour de force of a kind of melodic metal that I already thought to be lost, a challenge for all headbangers.
Call your metal friends, invite some girls, send all your neighbours away, buy a lot of beer and put Astralism into your cd player….. can life ever be better?
My personal standout tracks: From satan with love, Israel, Raiders of the ark, Tears of the titan, Apocalype revealed (and down my spine go the cold showers).
| Tracklist |
| 1. EVP |
| 2. Black Rain |
| 3. London Caves |
| 4. From Satan With Love |
| 5. Fire In Our House |
| 6. Israel |
| 7. Raiders Of The Ark |
| 8. Tears Of A Titan |
| 9. Oliver Twist |
| 10. Vendetta |
| 11. The Green Mile |
| 12. In Rock We Trust |
| 13. Apocalypse Reavealed |
: 54.58
| Buy other Astral Doors albums |
