Blister Brigade hails from Sweden. Their press release for the upcoming 2025 release touts their “straight forward, up tempo” approach to the hard rock/metal brand of music. The first (so far) single and video is called Paradise Industrialized. Since I heard nothing tantalizing from this quartet, I visited YouTube and found a couple other songs such as Carousel, which summoned the listener to “join the freak show.” This video included various shots of circus objects and numerous snippets of a tattoo session. While I lack skin art, tattoos are soooo common these days that having a sleeve or whatever does not represent edginess, countercultural proclivity, or freakishness. I stopped after two songs to move along to the next Scandinavian metal act, Rioghan.
Rioghan, a quintet led by singer Rioghan Darcy, hails from Finland. I always welcome women to the metal scene, and Ms. Darcy alternates her vocal range between angelic heights and cookie monster growls. The first song, Edge, sounds “djent”-ed, a musical style that dominates the Meshuggah sound. (I will travel to Quebec City this spring as a tourist and to enjoy the opening show of Meshuggah’s North American tour; this will be my fourth time seeing the Swedes). No one compares to Meshuggah. I wonder if this picture represents an ode to the classic Meshuggah song, Bleed. https://rioghan.com/pages/biography Regardless, the Edge video showcases the eponymous one’s piercings and tattoos. Sorry, but these lifestyle choices do not enhance the music. The next two songs lacked djent in lieu of atmospheric music. Not enough here to continue a musical exploration and review.
Both of these bands appear on Inverse Records.
As I scrolled the press release for Hostilia, I noticed this quote from Tomas Lindberg of At The Gates. (ATG’s release Slaughter of the Soul is an all-time favorite of mine) “To see Hostilia rip live in the studio is really refreshing in today’s climate of overproduced metal, where everybody sounds the same. It’s rare for a young band to have so much unique identity. Truly impressive! These guys will go far, AND they deserve it.” How else can I contribute? I would not change a single word of his assessment.
Hostilia, from Gothenburg, Sweden, evokes Metallica’s Hit the Lights during Power Out. Thus, my head banging commenced! The Eternal Death video evokes an NPR Tiny Desk number. I highly recommend watching this eight minute video concerning the making of the EP, All The Blood Spilt,” by producer Jakob Herrmann: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrIjKbDPLww Mr. Herrmann immediately recognized the raw talent these young Swedes possessed; he has previously worked with the likes of Opeth, Beyonce, Devin Townsend, and Robert Plant, to name a few. I guess my musical sensibilities recognize a good thing too! I am definitely adding Hostilia to my dream all-Scandinavian tour of North America!!!
