One of the last posts of the year!
As a matter of fact in two days the wood-legged Cpt. will be sailing out of the Port, headed for the Mediterranean Sea to go raising some Christmas hell back home, riding the coasts for panettone, salami, cheese and sausages! Hell yeah! Some serious food, finally! But, I am leaving in your sock by the fireplace a very very fine piece of music! Perfect for your Christmas. No, don't worry: it's not another crappy Metal Xmass compilaton...
NORTHERN KINGS-Rethroned (2008)
They are back, with style! The four fattest-asses singers of Finland: Jarkko Ahola from the Manowar inspired Teräsbetoni, Tony Kakko from the masters of the progressive/power crossed domain in Sonata Arctica, Juha-Pekka Leppäluto the velvet voice of Charon and Marco Hietala who reigns over both Tarot and Nightwish. It's a lot of singers for one single album! And they have transformed here '80s best pop/rock into overwhelming metal masterpieces of astonishing proportions. This Rethroned is really remarkable: the arrangements are clever, keeping a nod to the source material but taking it beyond its boundaries, twisting it into something completely different in tone and style. Musicianship is top-notch: thundering drums, dazzling guitars and layers upon layers of synth. "Epic" is not a suggestion, it's a given for nearly every song. Soundtracks you could say! And they span from pieces such as Depeche Mode's "Strangelove" to '80s classics like "Wanted Dead or Alive" by Bon Jovy. Even songs you would never imagine to fall under the sword of this genre, like Frank Sinatra's "My Way", are thrown to these howling wolves of metal. And the results are fantastic! Indeed I really love this "My Way cover"! Believe me, you'll have a great time with this disc! Grab it fast!
