Every now and then you discover a totally kickass band that nobody has heard of. Before Stigma asked me to review this album I was a bit sceptical. A band called “Winterlong” from Sweden that plays power metal didn’t seem like anything special at first. Sure, there are lots of great power metal in Sweden but I didn’t expect much from a completely unknown band. Surprisingly though, I was positively blown away by this album when I first listened to it. I’ve listened to it again and again and it still rocks. This is the band’s third release and I can’t even recall hearing the name of the band being mentioned anywhere before. If this is due to the perhaps more obscure label or bad feedback for their previous efforts I don’t know.

Winterlong’s self-titled is a solid album from start to finish. From the first track Winterlong churns out fast and aggressive guitar-riffs, hyper-fast drumming and shredding neo-classical guitar-solos. They don’t slow down until a short interlude “A Vision of the Wolf”, then after that it’s full-speed ahead until the only ballad of the album, “Demise”. Add to this some great vocals provided by Mikael Holm and you have a top-notch power metal album. This doesn’t sound as cheesy as certain power metal bands since there are almost no keyboards featured on this album. So if you are the type that don’t like it when keyboards are overused in metal you need not worry. Just good old straight-up heavy/power metal.

So what makes Winterlong stand out from other power metal acts then? To me the band that sounds most similar to Winterlong is another more known Swedish band in the same genre, Firewind. Add twice the energy of Firewind, better vocals, faster drumming, riffs, more variation and catchier choruses and you’ll have an idea of what I’m talking about. The guitarist Thorbjörn England’s solos are definitely on par with guitar-virtuoso Gus G from the previously mentioned Firewind. Englund’s neo-classical influences shines through in most of the solos here. The track “Bloodshred” is a 4-min brilliant guitar-shredding instrumental. Some parts of it sounds very much like “Flight Of The Bumblebee”. The drumming on this album is great too and with lots of cool drum-patterns and fills. The production is good and thick and brings out the best of the band except for the almost inaudible bass.

So is there anything bad at all with this album? I can’t find anything except that by the end of the album I wanted more. It’s not a masterpiece but it’s a damn solid album. There are no weak tracks to be found and they are most importantly, memorable. It’s hard to get the choruses of “Ten Digits of the Future” and “Each Day We Die” once you’ve heard them. Do you like bands like Firewind and Moonlight Agony? Definitely check out this album then. I haven’t heard any of their two previous albums so I can’t compare it to them but I’m eager to check them out now.

[This review was first published on the now defunct scandinavianmetal.info webzine]