SKYBLOOD – Skyblood

Mats Leven, the Swedish vocalist known for his work with Candlemass, Therion, Krux, Yngwie Malmsteen and At Vance, has completed a solo-project he’s been working on for several years. Aside from some guest musicians, Mats recorded the instruments himself at his own studio. Naming the project Skyblood, Mats equates the resulting self-titled effort to “pride, empathy and rage” delivered with musical finesse and timeless elegance. It‘s being promoted as “an unchained and exciting affair feeding off of epic and classic metal influences, doom and melodic hard rock – an unpredictable mixture soaring to glorious height!

While unchained and doomy are accurate descriptors, finesse and melodic are not. Skyblood is sonically bludgeoning. Thunderous drums and moaning riffs galore. Think of Korn at their indecipherable muddiest. Early on “The Voice” stakes out this narrow soundscape for the Skyblood bulldozer to traverse. The drummer repeats the first few seconds of Judas Priest’s “Painkiller” while the guitar and keyboards create a monotone wall of noise for Mats to wail and rage over.

“The Not Forgotten” comes closest to providing enough melody to crest above the din of war party drumming and plodding riffs. Mats delivers a melodic chorus with enough hooking power to follow along with. The remaining songs are largely rudderless. The final song, “Le Venimeux”, clocks in at over 10 minutes. It’s a bloated splatter of random instrumentation and vocalization.

Skyblood is need of direction, restraint and melodic flair. The songs play like a movie soundtrack designed to flow over and around a listener rather than engaging directly.

TRACK LIST (Highlights: 3)

1. Skyblood Manifesto
2. The Voice
3. The Not Forgotten
4. Wake Up to the Truth
5. Once Invisible
6. One Eye For An Eye
7. Out of the Hollow
8. For or Against
9. Le Venimeux