Blasdead
Ground Flare
5.2
It's been a while since I last encountered a melodic speed metal band from the Land of the Rising Sun. In fact, this would be the very first. I guess with the recent infatuation I've developed with bands like Sabbat, Sigh and Barbatos, it's easy to forget that the country has more to offer than insanely good black and thrash metal. Nonetheless, here stands the unfortunately titled Blasdead with their sophomore effort, Ground Flare, and while I have my reservations, it did prove to be a stronger listen than the name would suggest.
In the band's publicity photo, we have one guy sporting a Ritual Carnage shirt, another in an Accept shirt and another in what looks like a Rage shirt, though it's difficult to decipher with its low resolution. This is no coincidence. Their sound borrows from the Accept formula just a bit on the more rock 'n roll flavored songs ("Never Apologize" and "Get Out of Here") and the galloping pace and vocals of Eiji Yokoyama take much influence from Rage. If there's one thing you'll notice right away, Blasdead takes the speed part of the melodic speed metal tag seriously. In fact, one might say they would benefit from a little diversity of pace.
While it's easy to see where they take their influences (I mean, they do literally wear them on their sleeves), it would be shortsighted to ignore the more unique aspects to Blasdead's sound. For one thing, there's a charm in Yokoyama's voice. As a band leader, he's fairly strong. He does have a tendency to crack at times, but there's a recognizable and convincing passion in his wails. When given free reign, guitarist Shoji Yasuno is impressive, especially on the all too infrequent slower, more melodic passages. All this is leading to is that there's no obvious glitch in the band's sound. Their influences are obvious and they struggle with constructing their own personality at times, but it's competent and sometimes compelling melodic metal. Does this equate to a recommendation? If you're a melodic speed or power metal fiend, sure, but others should wait to see if the third times a charm for a promising band in need of a little inspiration.
