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Sweden's Blackshine started out as a rather typical Stockholm death metal act, then known as Hetsheads, back in the late 80s but it was soon clear to them that they wanted to develop further and Blackshine was a fact. The traces of their death metal past has always been clearly noticeable though and so they are on the latest opus known as "Lifeblood". Now, don't get me wrong, this is not a death metal album, far from it. Blackshine don't let genre limitations stand in the way of their creative forces. There is a little bit of an old Sunlight vibe in the production but it is far from as dirty as it was back then. The excellent guitar work from axeman Joakim Stabel range from Stockholm death riffs to rock 'n' roll á la Monster Magnet or maybe even Mustasch and on top of this there are occasional melodic sections that smell slightly of In Flames, particularly in the title track which is probably the strongest piece of the album together with the following "Stonefog".
Melancholy meets aggression on this album from Blackshine and they manage to pull it off very neatly in the end. I've always liked the rough edged yet powerful voice of frontman Anders Strokirk and he proves once again that he has what it takes to put the final touch on "Lifeblood". Consistency is however a bit of a problem on this album. While the aforementioned songs "Lifeblood" and "Stonefog" are really great there are a few mediocre creations as well, especially towards the end, and they tend to pull down the grade slightly. Nonetheless, I am sure fans of such diverse bands as Entombed (later releases), Sentenced and maybe even The Hellacopters will find something to enjoy in the music of Blackshine.
| Tracklist |
| 1. Cure In The Shape Of Noise |
| 2. Born A Denier |
| 3. Lifeblood |
| 4. Stonefog |
| 5. Powerghoul |
| 6. Unbroken |
| 7. Burn The World |
| 8. Face The Bastard God |
| 9. Dwell In Black |
| 10. Second Rate Blasphemer |
| 11. Denial Of Pain |
: 38.14
| Buy other Blackshine albums |
