Sweden Pure Hard Rock Metal
At the risk of sounding like EVERY other reviewer in the metal world right now, “There seems to be a retro trend in metal at the moment.” Yeah, so? What does that tell you? It tells me that I’ll gladly take an old NWOBHM record on vinyl over a lot of this knucklehead nonsense passing itself off as metal today. Bands like ZODIAC, THE DAGGER, and even SCORPION CHILD
(fucking me on interviews aside!) have been such a pleasant surprise over this past year, and in no way can you say it’s a gimmick. And the same now holds true for BLACK TRIP from Sweden. Oh, and so as NOT to sound like everyone else I will spare you the goddamn history lesson on how this band came to be and just get down to brass tacks.
With eight songs and a running time of thirty-five minutes Black Trip’s debut Goin’ Under is a tasty slice of vintage rock and metal pie sounding at times like early IRON MAIDEN, right down to singer Joseph Tholl sounding like a way more in-tune and not a violent drunk Paul Di’Anno. You can really hear it on opener “Voodoo Queen” and “Radar”, the latter featuring some dual guitar work that is warmer than a fireplace at Christmastime. The whole record has such an earthy feel that it’s hard not to get swept up in it. And Jonas Wikstrand’s drums sound like they were recorded in 1981 and stored in a vault somewhere, I dunno. One listen to the guitar solos on “Putting Out the Fire” and you should be as sold as I was. Stepping out from behind his customary position behind a drum kit, guitarist Peter Stjarnvind, along with Sebastian Ramstedt gives us a delicious recipe of hot licks capable of melting the polar ice caps. And the thump-a-dump running bass lines courtesy of Johan Bergeback remind us of a time when the rhythm section was king.
Tracklist:
1. Voodoo Queen
2. Radar
3. Putting Out The Fire
4. No Tomorrow
5. Tvar Dabla
6. The Bells
7. Thirst
8. Goin’ Under