Metal Wednesdays: 27th August 2008

Ok, ok; so it's Thursday. But you know how it is; I totally meant to post this yesterday but my girlfriend made me breakfast in bed, then we went to the cinema, and there was this Spanish bar having happy hour and cocktails were drunk... You get the picture. So here, in all its glory, I present The Post I Should Have Posted Yesterday:

Happy Wednesday homies! Welcome to the latest installment of our Metal Wednesday's series, and today we're talking about those sexy Finnish boys, Northern Kings.

Mentioned in the previous Metal Wednesday post, Northern Kings is something of a Euro-metal supergroup, formed from the diaspora of bands Nightwish, Sonata Arctica, Charon and Teräsbetoni.

As you should be aware by now, I have more than a little fond spot for Marco Hietala of Nightwish fame so for me the album was a bit of a must-have. My girlfriend is also a mahussive Sonata Arctica fan; check them out, they're actually pretty awesome, and minus an odd obsession lead singer Tony Kakko (featured magnificently as a quarter of Northern Kings has with a mysterious girl called 'Dana', the band do achieve moments of greatness that bear more than a slight resemblance to early Sabbath or Iron Maiden. The long and short of this is; I like Northern Kings. In fact, for cheesy metal covers of mostly 80's songs (uh-oh, I didn't mention that's what it is, did I?), the album, Reborn, is infinitely listenable, and infinitely surprising.

While ironic cover-versions have been somewhat killed in the last few years, there's still enough fresh interpretation (and genuine, non-ironic love for the chosen tracks) on this album to get you to track 13. I will admit, however, to a dip in concentration during the middle of the album, with cheese-fests like I Just Died in Your Arms Tonight and the ghastly Phil Collins' dreariness that is In the Air Tonight providing little to enthuse over. Stick with it, though; final track Brothers In Arms is a joyous affair for what is actually quite a sad Dire Straits original, riotously affirming the damn good fun these guys must have had with Reborn, and the fun you're going to get if you grab a copy.

Enough of all that nonsense, here's a couple of tracks:

Northern Kings - We Don't Need Another Hero
Northern Kings - Don't Stop Believin'

As always, these songs are for sample only; please be kind and go buy the CD: Reborn by Northern Kings