HARDWARES

One record for Metal Blade and now this one, Marko Tervonen (ex-The Crown) gathering up an new singer but otherwise continuing on his intriguing path of traditional metal that manages to sound unlike the work of any specific genre. Best descriptive would be a heavier and more complex Sentenced, with gothic bits butting up against turbo-charged passages that irresistibly bridge stoner rock to death metal. New crooner Tobias Jansson (The Law, Treasure Land, Sugarglider) has neither the pedigree or the aggressive confidence of Tony Jelencovich, but that just adds to the raw Sentenced/Cathedral-unsure humanity to the thing. Opener ‘Anywhere But Here’ gets top marks from this corner for grooving, beery metal anthem of Spring ’08, and then ‘Defenseless’ is as vicious delicious, but then the band settles in a bit and the album drags, even if the world created is a good alternative to a dead Sentenced.