Bloodbound – Creatures of the Dark Realm – Album Review

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Completely devoid of shame, Bloodbound‘s new album, Creatures Of The Dark Realm, is gloriously over the top and ripe (stinky ripe, like a robust & sticky French brie left to fester in the baking hot sun) with typically pompous symphonic bluster…..and it’s simply magnificent for exactly those reasons!

Marching into battle, with heads held high and with the distinct whiff of aforementioned dairy products filling their nostrils, Bloodbound have harnessed Euro-power like never before and taken the glorious sounds of Gloryhammer, Sabaton and Hammerfall into ever more absurd realms (realms filled with all manner of dark creatures, apparently). Scary.

While the keys tend to overpower the relatively crunchy guitars, none of that matters a jot when the songs are so infuriatingly, indomitably, expressive and effervescent. “March Into War” is as straightforward as its title suggests – with Bloodbound ably channelling Sabaton and proving well up to the task – while “When Fate Is Calling” gets the blood pumping and the soft bits a-tingling. And, if it’s full on histrionic bombast you’re lusting after, then “Eyes Come Alive” hits all the right power-thrashy notes (in a Tim Ripper Owens, Iced Earth-era meets early Artillery kinda way) and reminds you that Bloodbound are a METAL band after all. 

With not a single ballad in sight, this is an up-tempo experience with the drama proving palpable throughout. So unselfconscious, it’s a delight to behold, the joy in Creatures Of The Dark Realm comes from simply letting go and unleashing the inner power metal frontman that resides in all of us. So, sing proud, gesticulate wildly, stand with your legs so far apart that you worry about the integrity of your already too tight trousers and simply let fly! Bloodbound are with you all the way.  

Creatures Of The Dark Realm is pure power-pop-metal perfection and is an album truly worthy of your attention. We suggest you grab yourselves a cheese-platter (with pickle, love a bit of pickle) and gorge on Bloodbound’s fromage-lovin’ delights! 

Power metal album of the year? Could well be! 9/10

Bloodbound’s Creatures Of The Dark Realm was released via AFM Records on May 28th, 2021