Bakken
This Means War

Bakken states that This Means War, does that mean they are on the warpath? This is their third released, I reviewed their previous two with some very positive opinions so if I was one that had preconceptions or hopes they could have been high for this one. They have a new singer and substantial time has passed since the previous release, does that mean they have taken steps forward? I sure hope that as heavy metal is a genre that doesn’t always lend itself to strong variations and Bakken does the traditional style and it certainly doesn’t.

Traditional heavy metal, with good power and energy. It is an album that builds on the typical structures of the genre with power chords, distinct choruses and that kind of thing. There are no surprises. It is a well-produced album with pretty modern sound, while the songs are quite standard for the genre. The new vocalist is good, but I have to say that it isn’t super obvious that they have changed the vocalist unless you listen to their albums back to back. The playing time is sensible though and the variations is more or less what you can expect from an album within this genre.

The time between the albums is probably quite beneficial for the band as an album like this following the previous stuff could be slightly detrimental as their albums sounds pretty similar. It is not like they have taken much of a step forward compared with their previous stuff, adding a new vocalist doesn’t really add anything new to their style. But they are good at what they do, and this is probably a stronger production than what they have done before.

This is a quite solid album, and if you like the classic heavy metal or what they band have done before you will most likely find this album very agreeable – perhaps even great. I think they do what they do really well, but as a peripheral viewer I am perhaps somewhat less impressed considering that they don’t really do anything new, or outstanding so I find myself less impressed with this release than I was with the two that came before it. It is still a fine and good album that I can listen to and enjoy, but it is not memorable or outstanding and that is really what a good album needs. Bakken has established themselves as a strong name in the world of heavy metal.

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