Review Tornado - Amsterdamn, Hellsinki 2011

“Like Muhamed Ali we’re coming out swinging” that is what the band states in their opening track called A Bolt Statement which of course is a play on words for you who did not understand that, just like the name of the album Amsterdamn, Hellsinki which is not only misspelled capitals of Finland and Netherlands it is also a reference to where the band members are hailing from. Add to that the american singer and you have a three nation band which is what Tornado of course is. By the label they are described to be the answer to the eternal question of what happens if Slayer fucks Mötley Crüe which of course is not my eternal question since that is “Whatever happened to mr Garibaldi?” well no it isn’t but it was a much more likely than the label’s question. But what about this band being a love child between a rubbish thrash metal band and an equally rubbish sleaze band, are they going to storm the world with their music?

Yes, probably, or unlikely depending on if you think the glass is half full or empty. They are musically rooted in what is considered by so-called experts to be the thrash metal genre. The american part of that, you know the one that is often seen as the originating part of the thrash metal genre, bands like Metallica, Anthrax, Death Angel, Exodus along with some more come to mind when I hear this band for the first time. But Tornado have a slightly more melodic edge to it, maybe there is a bit of mixed breed here with some sleaze elements adding another little dimension to the musical side. The songs are generally quite short and to the point, there is no messing around with stuff and long solos, it is the song and nothing else. The album was produced by well-known Swedish produced Peter Tägtgren who has done a good job giving the production suitable for these songs. Speaking of the songs, if you count them you will find out that there are twelve of them and if you time a stop watch while playing them all you will find that the time passed from when you start until you stop it is about forty minutes.

So am I blown away with the music of this Tornado? In a way, yes. I think they are a great band and their music is great, the first track after the opening intro called Hate Worldwide is a tempo filled blaster where everything moves at breakneck speed and sets the tone for the album in a brilliant way. 3 of 8 is the following track that seem to be about environmental things and it is another great songs and another one where we in parts get to hear the vocalist really spit out the words at great speeds. And like that it goes one with one good song after another and I could count them all but I think you will be bored after I write Eugentics, therefore I will spare you a song by song rundown. Overall though we get uptempo melodic thrash metal that is based upon the old school american thrash metal. The vocals are clean and energetic and compliment the music of this band in a great way, I would guess that there is a bright future awaiting this band if they keep doing stuff like this.

There is really no big letdown either for this band, they keep in check when it comes to playing time, the songs are all of high quality, mix, production, everything is good which makes this into a great album and yet another really good debut album I have been given recently. With decent promotion here in Sweden I am sure this band would be very appreciated since thrash metal seem to be the most popular genre here having more than one eighth of the population watching the Metallica big four show when it was aired on Swedish national public service television, it was more than many games of the world cup of football and many other popular sports here in Sweden, maybe sending a promo to the biggest daily newspapers will get them recognition. I guess that if people get the chance to hear them, they will probably be successful, but it is all a matter of being noticed, they are really good enough to do great as I think few thrash metal bands are this good.

Prepared to be blown away the promotional company who sent me the promo said, and they are absolutely right, this is a great album.

HHHHHHH

Tornado Amsterdamn, Hellsinki

Tornado
Amsterdamn, Hellsinki