Gudar Skymning: Morka Vatten

Lapland is not famed for its hard rocking blues infused metal, however that is exactly where four piece Gudar Skymning hail from. With a twin guitar attack of Knut Hassel and Kenny-Oswald Sjodin, who also handles vocals, the riffs come thick and sludgy, but with a bluesy melodic edge that makes for a convincing, if unoriginal mix. The rhythm section of Magnus Hasselstam and drummer Anders Nord are also a capable pair who can lay down thick rumbling lines for the guitars to bulldoze over and while they do nothing overly spectacular, as a quartet they are tight and able of coming up with some ideas that hint at some good songs here. Problems however arise with Sjodin's vocals and while his native tongue may not be the most obvious choice to front what is a remarkably American sounding genre, that is only part of the problem. I usually have little if any issues with bands singing in their own language, however in this case Swedish just sounds a little peculiar and extremely cumbersome over this style of attack. Unusual though it may be, that could easily be forgiven if Sjodin had a kick ass voice, or a bourbon soaked drawl that enhanced the music, but that just really isn't that case, with his growling, almost shouting vocals grating on the nerves by the time Morka Vatten is through.

So putting that issue to one side, what is left? Well actually some smart songs that contain top notch guitar work, the odd bit of excellent slide work from Sjodin, who proves his talent lies with the six string and enough hooks to keep the interest from song to song. Just listen to the insistent, punchy "Imuranans kaflar", or the groovy grind of "Pengar" for proof that Gudars Skymning can lay down solid riffs with ease and that isn't all the musical highlights, with some fret blazing setting "Fri" on fire, while "Soderslantsblues" gives a firm nod to Black Sabbath jamming with Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Unfortunately that good work is undone with the vocals and I would suggest that before Gudars Skymning think about a follow up album, they extend their ranks to a five piece with a dedicated singer.

Track Listing
1. Jag ar en trollkarl
2. Soderslantsblues
3. Imuranans kaflar
4. Kallar-lony
5. Pengar
6. Mdrig har jag velat
7. Ilyfs och fason
8. Jalverns svarta djup
9. Fri
10. Never in my life

Added: January 8th 2011
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Gudars Skymning MySpace
Hits: 2259
Language: english

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