Bloodbound - Book Of The Dead
Metal Heaven
Melodic Heavy / True Metal
11 songs (56'24)
Release year: 2007
Bloodbound, Metal Heaven
Reviewed by Chris
Album of the month

I've discovered Bloodbound not so long ago, and I must say I was instantly hooked by the bands first album : Nosferatu. Then I heard that the new album would feature a different singer, I was not very happy about it and thought that the band would lose some of their identity in this change. But when I first heard Book Of the Dead, and instantly recognized Michael Bormann's (Jaded Heart) vocals, it put my fears to rest.

Bloodbound is the type of band that makes me forget how wrong Hammerfall has went in the past few years. They remind me of them though they tend to be a bit more melodic, especially on the guitar side. Bloodbound's sound is a mix of old school heavy metal (like Hammerfall), with heavily melodic guitars and bombastic choruses. The first album also had tons of Iron Maiden inspirations, and while there still are a few in Book Of The Dead, they are no longer that omnipresent. The first song Sign Of The Devil is a killer opener : fast, melodic and with a huge choir oriented chorus. Its a punch in the face right from the start, and one that announces a great album. Michael's vocals are a worthy replacement and while it gives the band a different sound than they had on their debut album Nosferatu, their sheer power add a new dimension to the songs. Bloodbound craves songs that talk about forces of the night (vampires, demons, hell,... etc). and the songs are very catchy and usually make you want to sing along while banging your head. Bloodbound guitars are, for the lack of a better word : majestic ! From the heavy riffing, to the ultra-melodic intros and solos, their crying sound will please every fan of melodic metal. As it was the case with their debut album, Book Of The Dead contains no filler tracks. 11 songs equals 11 diamonds ! The use of choirs to make the choruses so bombastic is just perfect, and while this album is a tad less heavy than the last one. But what little it lost in heaviness, it more than makes up in terms of melodies and bombastic choruses (though that was never the band's achille's heel anyway). The album contains an incredible number of fast killer songs, like The Tempter, Bless The Unholy, Lord Of Battle, Flames Of The Purgatory, Into Eternity, Black Shadows, Turn To Stone and Seven Angel. Mid-tempos are Sign Of The Devil & Book of The Dead, with just one ballad called Black Heart. Now that is the perfect equilibrium in terms of fast,mid and slow song for any metal album in my opinion (many bands should learn by exemple).

In the end if you're a fan of Melodic Heavy Metal then you simply cannot ignore this jem of an album. Fans of the first two Hammerfall albums as well as Iron Maiden will surely get a kick as to the mix found in this excellent band from Sweden called Bloodbound. So far they've released two absolute killer albums and I'm looking forward to listen what they have in store for the future. I read on their website that they will perform with Paul DiAnno a mix of Bloodbound and Iron Maiden songs with a symphonic orchestra in a festival this summer (BOLLNÄSFESTIVALEN, Sweden). This should be quite the feast, and if the symphonic orchestration are done well it should result in something out of this world (let's hope this gets recorded into a live album or dvd). Bloodbound are definitly a new force to be reckoned with in the overcrowded category of Melodic Heavy / Power Metal, but with these two bombastic albums they delivered back to back, they've become one of the top challengers ! Two thunbs up Bloodbound ! Can't wait to listen to what's coming next.

Killing Songs :
Every single one of them !
Chris quoted 94 / 100
Other albums by Bloodbound that we have reviewed:
Bloodbound - Unholy Cross reviewed by Goat and quoted 82 / 100
Bloodbound - Tabula Rasa reviewed by Marty and quoted 82 / 100
Bloodbound - Nosferatu reviewed by Marty and quoted 92 / 100
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