Sword Songs Grand Magus 2016 Nuclear Blast Records Sword Songs is the 8th studio album by Swedish Heavy Metal band Grand Magus. Over the course of their albums, Grand Magus have managed to shake off the Doom and Stoner Metal genre tags that seem to follow them around to be what they are; a great Heavy Metal band with sword, sorcery and fantasy themes which makes you want to raise your drinking horn to the air and praise Odin. With each release, Grand Magus have started to appeal to a wider demographic. Grand Magus’ music is infused with, a classic metal groove honed with a modern sound. Grand Magus manage to show their appreciation towards bands such Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and Rainbow through their own music that is steeped in Norse history and mythology. The production on Sword Songs was again done by Nico Elgstrand and just like 2014’s release of Triumph and Power, Elgstrand manages to find and continue the sound that is undoubtedly Grand Magus. The production is top notch, a modern sounding record that could easily have been released in 1980 and because of this, Grand Magus are starting to pull older Metal fans in and rightly so. Sword Songs is full of catchy and melodic hooks that really show the essence of what Grand Magus is all about. Sword Songs is a collection of great records from Forged in Iron – Crowned in Steel, a pure singalong complete with chest beating of Viking Metal! To Born for Battle (Black Dog of Brocéliande), Master of the Land, Last One to Fall and Frost and Fire. Each song seems to have been crafted with the live environment in mind and only go to showcase Sword Songs as being a worthy successor to the previous album Triumph and Power which was fantastic. For a 3-piece, Grand Magus make a lot of noise and unlike a lot of bands, it is the smooth MK III Deep Purple Coverdale-esque vocals from JB which seems to drive the songs forward. The way JB sings manages to make Grand Magus’ songs sound more like stories and the music works around that. JB’s guitar moves from held on chords whilst his voice does its magical thing to Black Sabbath and Judas Priest style chugging. JB is a great guitar player, he doesn’t overplay and colours around his vocals with flourishes, preferring to give the spotlight to the other instruments. Ludwig doesn’t just keep the beat, they manage to fill the sound and the way Ludwig plays the drums is very melodic without the feeling of just keeping time. The glue that holds Grand Magus together is bass of Fox, he is the anchor and what makes Grand Magus work. It is sometimes the power of what Fox doesn’t play, that one elongated note or staccato note can make a song and this is shown in Freja’s Choice. As mentioned above, Sword Songs is a great follow up to 2014’s Triumph and Power and certainly follows in the same vein. However, Sword Songs falls just short of matching its predecessor, but that isn’t a bad thing. Triumph and Power was one of the best albums of 2014. Sword Songs shows that Grand Magus have no signs of slowing down and it is another great album of solid songs. 8/10 Adam Forged in Iron - Crowned in Steel (Grand Magus)
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