Album review : BLOODBOUND – The Tales Of Nosferatu – Two Decades Of Blood (CD and DVD)

AFM Records [Release date : 19.04.24]

It was 20 years ago today that Swedish keyboard player Fredrik Bergh and guitarist Tomas Olsson jumped the genre ship from AOR to Power Metal.

They left behind popular melodic rock band, Street Talk, to found new kids on the heavy metal block, Bloodbound. The transition could not have been smoother.

The debut album, Nosferatu (2005), saw them stake a groundshaking claim to a sizeable chunk of Power Metal territory. The birth of that new band is being celebrated here.

The Tales Of Nosferatu – Two Decades Of Blood is a Live album, a CD and DVD Blu-ray package, a document in sound of the band’s acclaimed set at the Masters Of Rock Festival last year.

The transition was not without its problems of course, creating a sound from scratch is never easy. It took a few albums before the band truly found its metier. Consequently, 9 of the 13 tracks come from the band’s 4 most recent albums, showcasing the memorably melodic Power Metal we now take for granted.

The sound of the Festival’s heavy metal multitude initially seems detached from the music being played onstage. But it’s just a matter of tuning in, as moments later a Mexican wave of noise rolls through the crowd in a delayed action frenzy of enthusiasm.

Heads down, hi speed Power Metal anthems abound, all seemingly cut from the same richly textured cloth. ‘Tales From The North’, ‘Slayer Of Kings’ and ‘Drink With The Gods’ mix celtic flavours with adrenalised, “foot on the monitor” metal, vocalising the myth and mystery at the core of Viking Metal.

The band’s sideways move into medieval fantasy metal is signalled by ‘The Warlocks Trail’, from Rise Of The Dragon Empire (2019), and ‘Battle In The Sky’, from War Of Dragons (2017).

There’s clear connection there with the hugely popular books and TV series, “Game Of Thrones”. Commercial opportunism you might think, and why not?

And let’s face it, the band has the crowd in the palm of its hand: it’s loving it, enjoying every moment, applauding every move, belting out every chorus. Having fun. That’s the point. ****

Review by Brian McGowan

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.

Next session: Sunday 19 January

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio

David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 1 December 2024.

UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). This show was first broadcast 3 December 2024.

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Listen via Windows Media Player. Click or tap here and “open file”
Listen via other media player (eg. VLC) Click or tap here and “open file”

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com

Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)