Where The Iron Crosses Grow
In short this album is a disc of Dismember songs interpreted by Swedish singer/songwriter Tony Naima and his band The Bitters. Your appreciation of this long player will either be based on your knowledge of the above mentioned bands or the lack thereof. Unfortunately I am familiar with neither which means I can neither judge this album against Tony Naima and his usual works, or his interpretations of Dismember songs because, put simply, I don't know any Dismember songs. Perhaps not the most sensible of arrangements you must agree, however, when a reviewer receives such an album or an album by any a band he/she knows nothing about, then they are able to listen to it objectively. They can decree the album on how much enjoyment is in it for many fans who also have yet to discover Dismember or Tony Naima and the Bitters.
Is this album enjoyable irrespective of whether all the songs are dismember songs? The short answer is yes, but what we have here is an album devoid of any kind of death/punk/rock/thrash/emo/core or any other sub genre of the word metal. This disc is like an anthem of dark folk, played by musicians on the verge of drowning themselves in the nearest lake. Not a single distorted chord is bestowed on this recording. Of course there are the subtleties of acoustic guitars and even a Duane Eddy style guitar twang on 'Of Fire'. Add some Hammond organ, a few violins, a little brass, a harmonica, an Accordion and a plethora of those percussions instruments you were forced to play in primary school, and you're pretty much wallowing in the organic feel of this recording.
As you can probably gather, this is as far away from metal as you're going to get, but there's a certain charm about the whole thing. The fact that all the songs are excellent, well performed and structured helps tremendously. But for this reviewer it's the dark sombre feel about this project that entertained me the most. Most acoustically driven music is based around major chords and jolly acoustic rhythms; Tony Naima has hit a winning formula here without falling foul of the dour drabness of bands like Coldplay and Travizzzzzz. 'In death's cold embrace' is pure dark groove; 'I saw them die' is almost acoustically epic in its feel and delivery, and quite a testament to the song's arrangement.
There are times when this disc flutters with George Michael's Faith on 'I saw them Die part 2', which is quite vomit inducing, and 'Let the Napalms Rain' sounds like the sound track to the castle building computer game Stronghold with it's medieval quirkiness (Perhaps leaving this track out would have been a good idea). Putting these minor points aside, this album is very different and extremely enjoyable, although I do wonder who will buy it. It's not heavy enough for the metal fans to lap up, and maybe too dark for more popular tastes to endure. But don't let me put you off from checking out this tribute album, just pay heed to the words 'This is not a metal album'.