RAM - review added 10th June 2009
Album Review: Lightbringer (2009)
For fans of: Heavy Metal... and sheep
Follow up to their 2005 album, Forced Entry, Lightbringer is Swedish band RAM's 2nd album. The band consist of Harry Granroth (guitars), Oscar Carlquist (vocals), Daniel Johansson (guitars) and Morgan Pettersson (drums). Unlike the first album which featured Leif Larsson on bass, Lightbringer uses session work for the darkest of strings.
The band play an old-skool metal with a scant, hollow production and numerous thrashy interludes. This really is akin to 80's music from bands like Kreator and Gamma Ray. RAM maybe aren't quite so heavy but the vibe is definitely there.
Oscar Carlquist's vocals are characterful and spot on for this style of music. He's never going to get a job with a national opera company but, to be honest, he probably wouldn't want one. He wouldn't get to make all the crazy noises he does on Lightbringer.
'Crushing The Dwarf Of Ignorance' has a very silly name and is only an intro, but it deserves a mention purely for the fact it has the best and heaviest sound of any song on the album. Track 2, the title track, is 3/4 of the way to thrash metal. It has the sensation and sound, but it's all a tad slower. The way it makes you feel like you're back in the mid 80's is mesmerising.
'In Victory' continues the retro style but adds an epic male choir sound over the top. Oscar's voice still dominates the track as it does throughout the album. 'Awakening The Chimaera' sounds like a cross between Judas Priest and Celtic Frost. It's a cool song and one of the better ones on the album. It demands to be played at fuller volume than your stereo will ever manage.
'Ghost Pilot (MI II)' starts life as a crazy jazz intro but soon settles into the vintage metal hot seat. It almost sounds like a ballad in places. There's an emotional edge to the track that belies it's heaviness. 'Suomussalmi (The Few Of Iron)', is another song with a schizoid opening. It commences with ASIA keyboards, then mutates almost into the BBC golf theme. The track itself has some nice moments (given it's length, it should have), especially the throbbing Iced Earth section about a third of the way through.
It's hard to know what to make of this album. It's great at what it does - the performances are all up there and the writing/mixing combo makes for a very atmospheric piece of work - but it's about 25 years out of date. If you love that older metal sound and can't be doing with modern music or modern production standards Lightbringer will be right up your street. For fans of a more contemporary sound, I'm not sure this will be for you.
Check out... the ASIA keyboards. We like ASIA keyboards!
Track List:
01. Crushing The Dwarf Of Ignorance
02. Lightbringer
03. In Victory
04. Awakening The Chimaera
05. Ghost Pilot (MI II)
06. Suomussalmi (The Few Of Iron)
07. Blood God
08. Titan
09. The Elixir
10. Prelude To Death
Label: AFM Records
Artist's websites: RAM , MySpace
