Last Tribe - The Ritual

Year of Release: 2001
Label: Frontiers
Catalog Number: FR CD 085
Format: CD
Total Time: 57:14:00

Formed by Midnight Sun guitar wiz Magnus Karlsson, comes this Swedish band totally out of the blue (at least for me) with a debut CD that is absolutely worth noticing. What we get here is some excellent melodic metal in the Swedish tradition, spiced up with progressive elements. The neoclassical influence is present and Karlson is without doubt an excellent guitarist. Although there are lots of shredding going on here, Karlsson has managed to maintain a high focus on melody which separates them from other mediocre bands of the genre.

The music is of course very guitar dominated, but given room for lots of keys as well. Vocalist Rickard Bengtson, has a good, clean, mid-to-high ranged voice and does a great job. The melody lines and choruses are strong and opener "Spellbound" is an immediate favourite. I can't really find any weak songs here. Sure, some are better than others and there is room for improvement, but for a debut album this is very impressive. The production is good as well.

Fans of melodic heavy bands like Midnight Sun, Stormwind, Seven Wishes, Malmsteen, Nation, At Vance etc will eat this thing raw.

[This review originally appeared November 2002 at the ProgPower Online review site -ed.]

Tracklisting:
Spellbound / Tears Of Gold / Black Widow / Made Of Stone / Blood On Your Hands / Falling / Flying High / One Of A Kind / Ready For The Storm / The Ritual

Musicians:
Magnus Karlsson - guitars
Jaime Salazar - drums
Dick Lowgren bass
Rickard Bengtsson - vocals

Discography:
The Ritual (2001)
Witch Dance (2002)
The Uncrowned (2003)

Genre: Melodic Metal

Origin SE

Added: December 30th 2004
Reviewer: Bjørnar Bevolden
Score:
Artist website:
Hits: 2252
Language: english