Neptune
Northern Steel

Neptune is a Swedish melodic metal band from the 80's who has been seen as one of the earliest pioneers during the NWOSHM era, at least that is according to the press release. Is NWOSHM a new genre? Perhaps not, it is either Swedish Heavy Metal or Satanic Heavy Metal according to information from different sites on the web. Feels kind of manufactured, these acronyms are pretty boring, and the subgenres are way too many without inventing pointless sub-sub-genres. Neptune themselves was around in the eighties but never released an album then, this 2020 release called Northern Steel is actually their debut album. They released a demo compilation in 2018 but this is the first “real” album. And it looks pretty good, but does it sound good?

Pretty typical heavy metal, kind of retro styled. The press release claims that it is 80s metal should sound by 2020, I think that claim is stupid. That would mean that it was recorded in the 80s and then remastered for 2020, unless 80s metal is another sub-genre. It is pretty classic hardrock or heavy metal with decent vocals, and powerful sound – I think the sound is both modern and strong, impressive production. The album is also relatively varied and with sensible playing time there shouldn’t be too much risk of getting bored with the album.

Despite some silly formulations in the press release I find this album to be a good one, retro metal/rock with good energy and attitude. “This is just not another Swedish metal band, this is Swedish majestic steel” they say in the press release, does it mean that it is good for steel constructions. I guess you need to formulate some funny press material to stand out in an overcrowded genre where most of the stuff is dull and uninteresting. This album is more than that, it may not break new ground or anything, but it sounds fine and should appeal to fans of the retro styled metal or rock, especially those who wants some sounds of the 80s that these guys looks to bring back to the world.

I like this album and the silly clichés they try to sell it with, a shame that the original singer passed away before getting the chance to record the album, but his brother does the vocals and do it pretty well. But as funny as retro it, one grows tired with it pretty fast and Seriously is probably the only really memorable track on the album with its ridiculous catchiness – a quite enjoyable track. If you enjoy classic heavy metal, I would guess that it is a high likelihood that you will like this album, it is really fine.

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