Tungsten Axe - Swedish Iron

Iron Shield Records
2013

When the end of 2013 finally comes knocking, at which point hundreds of thousands of best of 2013 lists will be compiled, this year will be marked as one in which we were overflowing with traditional heavy metal releases. For someone like me, who just so happens to feel like a kid in a candy shop when it comes to all things marketed as tried and true heavy metal, it feels as if the levee has broke. So far it does feel as if there has been dozens of praiseworthy traditional heavy metal releases to cross my desk. Keeping that thought in mind you could see how an album like this, which is reported to have been recorded, more or less, live in the studio with old fashioned equipment and procedures, would have me licking my lips in anticipation. I mean here we are talking about straight-up heavy metal, old school in nature, coming from a Swedish band! You could see the potential...heck, you could feel the potential this one had from a mile away! As I punched this promo in and sat back ready to take it all in something happened that made me pause. Opener "Prelude" went on and on and was way longer then it needed to be or should have been. Alright, so the opener was a tad weak, but starring me in the face was a real heavy metal band playing real heavy metal. It had to get  better right? And yet, as track after track came and went, there was this looming feeling of dread as reality started to creep over me. As I inch closer and closer towards a finalized review of this 9-track debut-album, as it has taken me several re-writes now to get the wording just right as far as how I felt about "Swedish Iron", everything is finally starting to come into focus. The sad truth is that the best that could be said about Tungsten Axe is that they do play with conviction. Unfortunately conviction will only take you so far in this business and, not to mince words, that's about all that there seems to be with this 4-piece. I get that Iron Shield Records must have seen (or rather heard) something they liked about this young act, but what exactly that was I just don't have a clue. At best the material here is average. At worst it's just dull and boring. It pains me to say that about a band liked this that has obviously put their hearts into this LP, but this is just one of those albums where I had to fight the urge to push next with each new cut. As such I figure there's no point in naming other bands this group of lads sounds like or even who these guys have worked to draw from as far as inspiration. That's sort of besides the point as this group just didn't do anything to make me feel as if they were more worthy then dozens of bands I know, unsigned and underground, who can connect all the dots in a fashion better then this. So yeah, sorry but it does take more then just looking the part of an old-school styled heavy metal act.