If you’re a middle-aged – give and take a few years – dude/dudette and is oblivious to who E-Type is/was – especially if you’re from Sweden/Scandinavia, you’ve probably been living under a rock throughout the 90’s. Martin “E-Type” Eriksson ruled the charts in the 90’s with his Eurodisco. The fact that Eriksson is a metalhead was known to many of us rockers. Eriksson started out as the drummer in Swedish Thrash Metal outfit Manninya Blade, a band that never got around to release an album at the time but the band transformed into Hexenhaus, a heavy band that has a few albums under its belt. The fact that E-Type’s music worked very well as Hard Rock numbers stood clear to us who caught him and his band live. E-Type’s concerts were more or less Hard Rock gigs complete with fire-breathing borrowed from you know who.
When we write 2022 in our calendars Eriksson has finally got around to release his Heavy Metal project that he’s been working on for a few years now – now under his new alter ego A-Tron and his band has been given the name Dampf, German for moist. With some creative help from producer Jona Tee (H.E.A.T.) bringing in guitars, keyboards and co-writing and with guests like Christian “Kicken” Lundqvist (The Poodles) and Shellback holding drum duties, Tommy Johansson (Sabaton) and Pontus Norgren (Hammerfall) throwing in some guitars and growling from Björn Åkesson, Eriksson has created an album that will blend Metal, Goth and Industrial with catchy melodies and hook-laden choruses. Sounds interesting enough for me.
Opener “Winterland” is a dark and heavy, riff-happy, goth-laden number with an eerie ambience where A-Tron’s voice sweeps all over the track. It’s melodic but not radio-friendly and even though the chorus catches on with a Therion-like melody, there’s also a gritty riff that chugs away most of the poppiness. It’s a big and bombastic number with a melodic growl in the background. I like this. Leading single “The Other Side” is uptempo, stompy and rough-edged where every melody is memorable and even sing-alongish. It’s uptempo yet epic, it’s raw and hard yet hooky with shitloads of pop-flirtings and holds a chorus that sticks like glue no matter if you want it to or not. There’s an underlying darkness with sporadic growls and melodies that sporadically looks back at A-Tron’s past – and it works like a charm. Very good indeed.
“Goeie Mie” is an upbeat rocker with chunky guitars and a muscular groove with hooks inserted everywhere. The pop-laden melodies marries brilliantly with guttural growls, evil vocal-parts and twisted melody-lines. The dark atmospheres makes for a dynamic contrast when rubbing shoulder with the uplifting chorus that holds a massive hit-potential. Great stuff. Latest single “Who Am I” is upbeat yet gothic and quite dramatic with more chunky guitars and stompy rhythms and industrial touches. Slight Rammstein touches blends fine with a pop influenced soundscape and a chorus that probably would have taken the band far in the European Song Contest. Good one.
With heavy riffage and bouncy rhythms, “Borne On The Wind” is both headbang-friendly and cinematic where the ominous soundscape creates a dramatic atmosphere. It’s doomy yet upbeat and the gloom brings on a contrasting mix as the melodies are melodic and catchy. Great stuff. The fact that “Twilight Eyes” hasn’t been released as a single (yet) is a bit of a mystery as the huge refrain is beyond catchy. It’s quite a heavy track, powerful with crunchy and edgy riffing yet with pop-hooks thrown in pretty much everywhere. It holds a steady and tight rhythm perfect for the live-scene. Also, the underlying growling takes away any risk of this going cheesy or sugary. It’s my favorite track and it screams HIT for miles. Brilliant.
“Spread Your Wings O’er Me” is a menacing powerhouse with some massive guitar riffs which dwells in the house of both Death and Thrash Metal – heavy, hard, punchy and right in your face. The verses blends clean vocals and growls yet always with melodies that shines through and the big chorus takes me back to the glory days of Helloween where Heavy Metal glances towards Power Metal. This one will most probably do the trick live – very good indeed. Taking on a big Rammstein vibe, “Steinhaufen” is a firey and fast tracked metal-belter on a kicking rhythm. The brutality of the song is somewhat smoothen out with a Therion like main-melody. Not a big Rammstein-fan, this is my least favorite tune on the album – and the chorus never really grabs me. Not bad but not all that great either.
On a gloomier note “Jerusalem” holds a dramatic atmosphere and comes along in a mid tempo. With haunting vocal-melodies on a pounding stomp some heavy, classic Metal riffage gives the song a live-friendly outlook with another refrain very hard to turn away from. A killer guitar solo also gives an extra spice to the track. Good Stuff. “From Here To E-Ternity” is faster, rougher and very in-your-face with some thrashy Metal riffing, a heavy track where growls meets clean vocals in the most natural way. There are inserts of both Death and Speed Metal but also slight pop injections in the melodies which brings on another hooky refrain our way. Very good indeed.
The album’s sore thumb “Sea Me” is saved for last, a good thing as it stands out a great deal sound wise, actually to the point of the song brings out the feeling of a whole different project. It’s a ballad of sorts, a slow number, dark and intense yet laid-back and low-key where A-Tron talk-sings his way through as if it’s story telling time. It’s a delicate piece with bass, a drum and vocals at front and a background keyboard to bring up a mysterious feel. I really like the song but it just don’t fit the album, neither sound or structure wise.
Speaking of only the songs, Eriksson & co. has managed to write a damn good record with not a bad song in sight but a whole bunch of damn good ones. Also, the mix of Eriksson’s patentable pop-hooks and melodies and the plethora of different Metal influences, be it Heavy, Death or Thrash, Industrial and Goth with clean vocals and growls works splendidly and feels like the most natural way in the world. The downside is that the production and all over sound on the album comes across as a bit samey which despite the many influences makes the album in need of more variation, how strange that might sound.
To me the record is a grower. What at first glance came across as a bit “meh” has turned into a damn fine Metal release that has me going back to it time and again – and I need to stress that this kind of Metal isn’t normally my pint of beer. It’s gonna be very interesting to see where this band will go in the future – and how they will hold up as a live act!
7/10
Tracklist:
1. Winterland
2. The Other Side
3. Goeie Mie
4. Who Am I?
5. Borne On The Wind
6. Twilight Eyes
7. Spread Your Wings O’er Me
8. Steinhaufen
9. Jerusalem
10. From The E-ternity
11. Sea Me
CD & Festival reviews 