Maximum Metal Rating Legend
5 Excellent - Masterpiece. A classic.
4.5-4 Great - Almost perfect records but there's probably a lacking.
3.5 Good - Most of the record is good, but there may be some filler.
3 Average - Some good songs, some bad ones at about a half/half ratio.
2.5-2 Fair - Worth a listen, but best obtained by collectors.
1.5-1 Bad - Major problems with music, lyrics, production, etc.
0 Terrible - Waste of your life and time.

Note: Reviews are graded from 0-5, anything higher or not showing is from our old style. Scores, however, do not reveal the important features. The written review that accompanies the ratings is the best source of information regarding the music on our site. Reviewing is opinionated, not a qualitative science, so scores are personal to the reviewer and could reflect anything from being technically brilliant to gloriously cheesy fun.

Demos and independent releases get some slack since the bands are often spent broke supporting themselves and trying to improve. Major releases usually have big financial backing, so they may be judged by a heavier hand. All scores can be eventually adjusted up or down by comparison of subsequent releases by the same band. We attempt to keep biases out of reviews and be advocates of the consumer without the undo influence of any band, label, management, promoter, etc.

The best way to determine how much you may like certain music is to listen to it yourself.
Band
Bloodbound
Title
In The Name Of Metal
Type
LP/EP
Company
AFM
YOR
2012
Style
Traditional
2/18/2013 - Review by: Eric Compton

Bloodbound
In The Name Of Metal

Company: AFM
Release: 2012
Genre: Traditional
Reviewer: EC

  • Doesn't speak to me with any purpose



  • Bloodbound are apparently making a career out of this metal thing. The band formed in 2006, courted Urban Breed (ex-Tad Morose) and mosh-danced through what is now their sixth entry in the chronicles of dungeons and dragons metal. "In The Name Of Metal" is the second release for the band on Germany's AFM label and apparently another notch in what is sure to become some sort of power metal legacy (for someone).

    I really loved the band's first album as well as the group's fifth release ("Unholy Cross" 2011) but maybe it is just too much too soon...and I know I say this a lot but it rings so true for Bloodbound on this new record. Sure it sounds top notch courtesy of the massive production job from guitarist Tomas Olsson. However as the album cover suggests the songwriting is all about heavy metal and the fight for one's choice in musical selection and lifestyle. Look, I am thirty-six years old with a family, a mortgage and a forty-hour week job. I can delve into heavy metal music practically anytime, anywhere and I really don't need an album of testosterone fueled pro-choice on how much metal needs me. I've had a good relationship with the genre for almost twenty years and the two of us are doing well so far. Needless to say the songwriting of album opener "In The Name Of Metal" is all about the rebellious spirit and the need to oppose the opposition and that sort of mentality. We get lines like "My hair is long and I don't give a f#@k". Really? The unity is thick and preachy throughout the opener as well as songs like "Metalheads Unite" (I wish I were kidding).The Swedish act is high on the hog and full of Manowar's fighting spirit which isn't necessarily a bad thing...it just doesn’t speak to me with any purpose.

    I do like the bombastic grooves set aside in tracks like "Monstermind" and "When Demons Collide", both strong Dream Evil/Metalium sort of cuts that are backed by up-front rigid bass lines. It is this sort of material that made the band's last offering enjoyable. We get more heavy grooves and gang chants on the powerful "Black Devil" (perhaps album best). The band's "power metal 101" are faulted with "Bonebreaker" and "King Of Fallen Grace", the fast double bass and up-tempo really calling in early Helloween and Gamma Ray. The Jap bonus track is a studio "live" version of old band favorite "Book Of The Dead".



    • 1 :REVIEW COUNT
      3 :AVE RATING

    ALL REVIEWS FOR: BLOODBOUND
    TITLE
    DOR
    COMPANY
    REVIEWER DATE MADE RATING
    In The Name Of Metal
    2012
    AFM
    Eric Compton2/18/2013
    3
    Nosferatu
    2006
    AOR Heaven
    Eric Compton9/19/2006
    -
    Stormborn
    2014
    AFM
    Greg Watson3/20/2015
    5
    Unholy Cross
    2011
    AFM
    Eric Compton4/1/2011
    3.5

    ALL INTERVIEWS FOR: BLOODBOUND
    INTERVIEW INTERVIEWER DATE TAGLINE


    << back >>