Once again, here we have some more stellar music coming from the magical land of Sweden, this time it's the long awaited new studio album from heavy rock act Skanska Mord, titled Blues From the Tomb. It's been five years since their strong self-titled release, but this latest Transubstans Records platter was well worth the wait. Comprised of Jan Bengtsson (vocals, harmonica), Petter Englund (guitar),
Patric Carlsson (bass), Patrik Berglin (guitar), and Thomas Jönsson (drums), Skanska Mord play a heavy form of '70s styled blues rock, at times almost bordering on doom, their music chock full of classic style guitar riffs and scorching solos, bringing to mind Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Grand Funk Railroad, Budgie, Humble Pie, Cactus, Free, and Led Zeppelin. If you love current Swedish acts such as Graveyard, Witchcraft, Lucifer, Siena Root, Ironbird, Troubled Horse, Captain Crimson, Gin Lady, Blues Pills, Mangrove, Horisont, Greenleaf, and Brutus...well, you get the picture, you'll certainly find plenty to enjoy here on Blues From the Tomb.
Tunes such as "The Never Ending Greed", "Snow", and "Simon Says" contain some great, bluesy hard rock riffs, Bengtsson's husky vocals providing the perfect foil for these heavy tunes. Even the more atmospheric, emotional numbers hit hard, such as "Blinded By the Light" and "Edge of Doom", each one dark and gritty, with passionate vocals and stabbing guitar licks. The hazy wah-wah guitars of "Sun" have an almost Robin Trower feel to them, but the song is like a long lost Free classic, ripe with vintage blues rock swagger, and the band again evoke that great British blues rock act on "Death Valley Blues", a track that contains some sizzling lead guitar solos. "The Coming Of The Second Wave" however is fantastic, lumbering doom, complete with wailing vocals and massive riffing, and one of my personal favorites on the album. If you pick up the CD version of Blues From the Tomb, you'll get five bonus tracks, all of which are great, including the tremendous heavy rocker "Illusion", the bluesy "Leaving", the psychedelic/stoner infused gem "A Room Without a View", the Southern Rock styled face melter instrumental "Black Salad", and the doom laden closer "Black Goats".
Once again, Transubstans delivers a winner here with Blues From the Tomb. If you can't get enough bluesy, '70s styled heavy rock, you'll need to get your hands on this latest from Skanska Mord immediately.
Track Listing
01 Snow
02 Simon Says
03 Edge Of Doom
04 The Never Ending Greed
05 Blinded By The Light
06 Sun
07 Death Valley Blues
08 The Coming Of The Second Wave
09 Illusion (Bonus Track)
10 Leaving (Bonus Track)
11 A Room Without A View (Bonus Track)
12 Black Salad (Bonus Track)
13 Black Goats (Bonus Track)
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