Thunderbolt - Demons And Diamonds

Year of Release: 2003
Label: FaceFront
Catalog Number: n/a
Format: CD
Total Time: 53:08:00

What do you get when you put members from two of Norway's leading hard core bands together? The best hard core band ever heard on planet earth? Wrong! Musically Thunderbolt bear no resemblance to these members' original bands; in fact, this is a by-the-numbers, traditional heavy metal album. The band is signed on the same label that once brought us the debut albums of such great bands as Ark and Pagan's Mind.

Thunderbolt play heavy metal very much in the vein of Iron Maiden, Hammerfall and a dozen other offspring. The music is heavy on the guitar side with strong dual guitars by Frank Johannesen and Cato Syversrud, accompanied by pounding drums, busy, steady bass-work and solid mid-to-high ranged vocals. As a matter of fact, Tony Johannesen has an impressive set of lungs and a wonderful high pitch. Most of the vocal lines are in the mid register, but more than occasionally he goes for the pitch. Good stuff!

Most songs are very accessible and catchy and although the originality police would be all over this stuff, there is no denying that they deal with the clich?s of heavy metal in a very persuasive and entertaining way. A couple of songs suffer from the lack of good, engaging melody-lines, but for the most part this CD holds good quality. Some songs stand out as immediate winners such as "Demons And Diamonds" and "Lidless Eye" which possess everything you want in a heavy metal song; pounding heavy riffing, brooding vocals and sing-a-long choruses. The production by Hugo Alvarstein and the band is good; clean and true in sound, yet with both depth and power.

Although not an instant classic or your first choice of purchases this month for that matter, this is still a very good, steady release well worth checking out for fans of classic heavy metal. I don't know the future plans for this band, but I sure hope they will stick around, as Demons And Diamonds shows a band with a lot to offer!

Similar To: Iron Maiden, Hammerfall

[This review originally appeared March 2003 at the ProgPower Online review site -ed.]

Tracklisting:
Palantir (Instrumental) / Lidless Eye / Demons & Diamonds / The Great Walls Of Stone / Days Of Confusion / Enforcer / Heartrazor / The Murderer's Dream (Of Purgatory) / Haunted By Shadows / Baptized By Fire / Crucified

Musicians:
Cato Syversud - guitars
Morten Andreas Eriksen - bass
Tony Johannessen - vocals, keys
Frank Johannessen - guitars
Vegard Waske - drums

Discography:
'Bandits At Six O'Clock: (a) Wrath Of The Sane / (b) The Murderer's Dream (Of Purgatory)' (single)
Demons And Diamonds (2003)

Genre: Other

Origin NO

Added: March 29th 2005
Reviewer: Bjørnar Bevolden
Score:
Artist website: www.thunderbolt.no
Hits: 3242
Language: english