Perennial all-stars Arch Enemy are back at it with their twelfth studio offering titled Blood Dynasty (Century Media Records). With this new cut, the band stays true to form delivering a blistering lineup of eleven cuts of pure brutality. Track after track we are bludgeoned with instruments wielded at virtuosic levels. Guitars are on full blast in every respect, from driving riffage that hits full throttle to solos that divebomb and shred everything in sight, one-second soaring in the clouds and the next stomping holes in the earth.

The next level of musicianship is on full display with Blood Dynasty. We not only get to see what they are capable of, but also there are many instances where they are showing us a hint or nod to their influences, which always makes for some added fun. The songs presented here are awesome examples of why we love Metal, with many different varieties for the listener to choose from. The hard-driving “Friday night” song, windows down, the volume on ten, the pit driver where you cannot help but bang your head, the crazy riff or spot that makes you hit rewind a thousand times, melodies that force you to sing along it’s all here and all high energy. And that energy never lets up, track after track we are hit with that mix of the brutal and the melodic that Arch Enemy does so well. Even when they take their foot off the gas and slow it down, it doesn’t feel that there is any pullback or lull. That energy is still there consistently, from beginning to end. For a band to deliver an eleven-track album that maintains this level of intensity is commendable in the age of the single and the playlist. 

Each track on Blood Dynasty stands alone on its own, and would be a solid representation of what the band is trying to say. There is a reason these killers have been around as long as they have.

Buy the album here:
https://linktr.ee/blooddynasty  

8 / 10
TORBJORN SOLGARD
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