Band:	Bloodbound
Album:	Creatures Of The Dark Realm
Style:	Power metal
Release date:	May 28, 2021
A review by:	tominator

01. The Creatures Preludium
02. Creatures Of The Dark Realm
03. When Fate Is Calling
04. Ever Burning Flame
05. Eyes Come Alive
06. Death Will Lead The Way
07. Gathering Of Souls
08. Kill Or Be Killed
09. The Gargoyles Gate
10. March Into War
11. Face Of Evil
12. The Wicked And The Weak

Blah? blah? blah? that insanity quote from Einstein and all that?

Doing the exact same thing over and over again: something that describes a lot of bands, and truth be told Bloodbound is one of them. Sometimes you know exactly what you can expect from an album, and this is definitely one of those times. Those of you who have listened to this band before know what that means: power metal that focuses on adding epic touches, catchy choruses and is very straightforward. Creatures Of The Dark Realm doesn't change that recipe in any way.

The production is very traditional; clean and extremely polished is the best way to describe it. Guitars are stylized and have power behind them, bass is audible in the mix and the drums have a good punch to them as well. Vocals have the clarity you would expect from a power metal record (and definitely from a Bloodbound album). Did I already tell you this record was really predictable?

So, what else is there to say about Creatures Of The Dark Realm? Not all that much, if I'm being completely honest. Yes, it's predictable and yes that could mean some of you might be losing interest in albums like these. However, it would be completely unfair of me to say that this doesn't have its quality. In fact, that predictable aspect is almost comforting. These guys know how to make a catchy and smoothly paced record. Very similar to what bands like Sabaton do. Oh, speaking of which?

No instruments playing except for the rhythm of the bass drum playing while roaring vocals are talking about war stuff and oh some synthesizer as well. Does that sound familiar? "Wait what are you talking about?" "Why are you describing a typical Sabaton song?" Well, "March Into War" simply sounds like Bloodbound is covering a Sabaton song. It's done really convincingly though?

Lyrics-wise, the band doesn't really do anything special either. It's like a mac & cheese without cheesy crust on top of it. Very cheesy and yet not cheesy enough. I'll explain. Dragony and Victorius: their last albums were batsh*t insane, and that was to their benefit. Both even had a crazy B-movie story; that's going all out and I like that. Long story short, if you are going to have some very silly lyrics, then try to fully embrace that (and add all the cheese).

Man, this sounds quite negative, doesn't it? Yet, I'd still say this is a good record, as good as the others, probably. Problem is, I have heard most of those. Where does that leave us? Like I mentioned, if this was the first record I had heard from them, this would probably get a higher score. Is that fair? Maybe not, because intrinsically this is just as good as (or very close to) their previous work. Still, that familiarity is a bit too much at times.

If you are a power metal fan and you like Bloodbound, this record will keep you satisfied. If you are a fan of power metal fan and you don't know Bloodbound? By all means, give this a chance; it's very competent at what it does.