SLINGBLADE – The Unpredicted Deeds Of Molly Black

It’s not easy being a child sometimes. Placing the influence of Kim Pedersen a.k.a King Diamond within a story of a child’s vengeance against the world would have to be creepy, mysterious and bloody. This is the story of the Reverend’s daughter, Molly Black, who was picked on in school and made her wrath known and felt while being alive and dead. This story also signifies the debut album of the Swedish Heavy Metal act Slingblade.

The music offered here is NWOBHM in the veins of early Iron Maiden, Girlschool and Rock Goddess along with German Traditional Metal as Doro or Warlock, of which both were influential to this female fronted group. This classic vintage aura embracing the release shaped the album’s sound direction to the same standards of the early 80s. Although the drums are a bit in the back, Slingblade were still able to capture the brighter moments of a traditional genre in terms of sound. When it comes to music, they followed the same exact formula.

Without a doubt this band can be categorized as the evil side of Girlschool and the softer side of Warlock. Slingblade’s line of Metal fire isn’t aggressive. They paid great importance to the concept at hand. To be honest, it isn’t all storytelling and it isn’t of a theatrical nature. At least not in the underground Broadway, or dungeon, shows of King Diamond.

Karlsson, as the front woman of the pack, doesn’t sound that passionate in her singing, but on the other hand, she has a rather nice melodic singing style as the story flows nicely through her chants. The musicians around her play as well as many great old Metal musicians played before them. Although not going out of their way to flavor things up, their traditional approach is, at best, admirable. The rhythms keep the blood flowing with nice classic solo licks.

As on any concept album, the songs present a different stage of events. Overall, Slingblade plays it right as they are able to swiftly channel the plot with ease. The main focus is on how little Molly became a dangerous being in life and death with a close connection to the demonic underworld. It is an interesting case with the right amount of depth, a bad case of possession. “Tie Her To The Cross”, “The Nature Of Evil”, “Give Back What You Borrowed”, apart from having well written lyrics, are very enjoyable.

The rest of the album is more or less on the same level. Whether this storyline has been told by any artist that appreciates a good horror tale, it leaves a taste for more on this album. Slingblade took a chance with a concept for a debut and it ended up as a good bet. It will be interesting to see what will come next.

Tracklist

1. The Nature Of Evil
2. Back To Class
3. Tie Her To The Cross
4. The Demon
5. Reverend’s Daughter
6. Slasher On The Loose
7. Off The Hook
8. This Dream Will End
9. Molly’s Death
10. Give Back What You Borrow

Lineup

Kristina Karlsson – Vocals
Johan Berg – Guitars
Tobbe Ander – Guitars
Niclas Svensson – Bass
Peter Henriksson – Drums