With Children of Bodom and In Flames getting heavily mixed reviews on their latest efforts, it’s good to see that some younger generations are picking up the slack they’ve left behind. Notably Skyfire and now Norther are releasing incredible melodic death metal albums that help compensate for the perceived weaknesses in the genre. Norther’s sophomore attempt really took me by surprise. Apparently, it took the band by surprise too. The response so far to this album has been phenomenal; including landing it at the 11th position on the Finnish charts.

Drawing their main influences from Children of Bodom, In Flames, and Stratovarius, Norther sets out to create their own style of unique music. While it is still filled with inevitable similarities, the album rocks despite the borderline plagiarism. Most notably, the song “Dead” opens with a riff that is about one note different from In Flames’ song “Bullet Ride.” The melodies are so close; I thought it was a cover at first. After the intro, the song changes drastically adding a thick layer of keys. The song is not as speedy as the Swedes play. There is more emphasis put on the atmospheric qualities of the music rather than the tempo. The Finns in general pay much more attention to the atmospheric qualities of this style of music than their Swedish counterparts seem to sometimes. The double bass drumming is crisp the guitars are spot on. The keyboards are sometimes mixed to high on this album (“Dead” being a perfect example). “Of Darkness and Light” sounds like what Stratovarius would come up with if they decided to play death metal. The keyboard work really shines above all here. It’s funny how the song structure seems similar to some of the more upbeat rock ballads of the 80’s. This track in particular has something of a Miami Vice era call and response theme that pervaded music. Call me crazy if you’d like to but the song is good.

From the title, the lyrics, and the upbeat tempo, I’m guessing that “Unleash Hell” was inspired by the opening of the movie Gladiator. It does sound like a song that I would like to charge into battle with. The track would serve as a good substitute for the score of Gladiator. The opening track “Blackhearted” serves as a good introduction but something about it doesn’t seem like it is cut out for an album opening song. The keyboard solo near the beginning is nice but this is a device usually used later on in an album once the audience has been primed to your sound. The track does kill and Norther does a good job here. “Betrayed,” the second song on the album would have been a much better opening song. The song is reminiscent of Sonata Arctica. In fact, if you picture Sonata Arctica with Alexi Laiho singing, you’re half way there. “Everything is an End” sounds very similar to some of the latest stuff Skyfire has been doing. The chorus is another candidate for LSS (Last Song Syndrome- the last song you listen to that gets stuck in your head). The title track is great for the guitars are evident here. It is about the one time when they are not overshadowed by the keys. The screams on this track are pretty potent as well. The final song is a cover of The Offspring’s “Smash.” Being a big fan of the “Smash” album, I was eager to hear what this would sound like. I have to admit that Norther really does a good job with the song. They manage to retain the punk qualities of the song while adding a whole new dimension of musical ability to this classic. The last chorus is a gang chorus of people singing in unison. It sounds like the men of Norther just got plastered and shouted into the mic. It’s good to see brotherhood in a band. I believe this track is only available on special pressings of the CD but Norther has been nice enough to make it a free download from their website.

Children of Bodom have some competition with bands like Norther and Skyfire throwing their hats into the arena. Keep an eye out for these young Finns to go places soon.