Band:	Thunderstone
Album:	Tools Of Destruction
Style:	Heavy metal, Power metal
Release date:	April 2005

01. Tool Of The Devil
02. Without Wings
03. Liquid Of The Kings
04. I Will Come Again
05. Welcome To The Real
06. The Last Song
07. Another Time
08. Feed The Fire
09. Weight Of The World
10. Land Of Innocence
11. Rainbow In The Dark [Japanese bonus]

It's already time for a new album for the Finnish Power Metal act Thunderstone.
Thunderstone created an album that took the Power Metal fans by storm in 2002, a large tour with compatriots Stratovarius followed and every Power Metal fans seemed to have Thunderstone on their brain.
In 2004 they released "The Burning", an album that was liked by many, by almost everyone it seems, except myself, I was a bit disappointed, the album felt a bit sloppy, rushed and the material didn't live up to the debut.
And now it's time for album No.3, "Tools of Destruction", an album that maybe comes out a bit to close to the second one, at least that was what I feared, since their second was so tame.

And after the first spin I can clearly hear that Thunderstone has both evolved and kept true to their roots (how in hell I now see that possible).
"Tools of Destruction" is heavier, much heavier than both their two releases, but in meantime it almost more melodic as well.
It's actually not a bad album in anyway, but it needs more time to grow than, for example, the debut needed when it came out.

If you liked the usual Suomi-Power that their first two releases was filled with, don't worry you'll get a bit of that here as well.
But the material is in general much heavier, and if you ask me, that's exactly what Thunderstone needed, if they would have released release after release in the same cheesy Power Metal, they would soon have been forgotten.

The material is mostly mid-paced with strong vocal lines and riffs build up around it, and with guitarist Nino Laurenne (you might heard of him beside Thunderstone as well, since Nino is a fame producer) and vocalist Pasi Rantanen's great voice (it's getting better and better), Thunderstone has a stabile ground to build their future success on.

The album starts out with "Tool of the Devil" (also released as a mini-EP around a month before the release of the album), a song that goes, as I just explained, in mid-tempo with guitars and vocals building the ground. The track much reminds me of a typical Manowar mid-tempo tune, in Finnish-style, it has this pounding feeling in it.

Small-progressive "Without Wings" follows, personally I'm in love with the chorus, that's not that easy to song-a-long with, but it's still wonderful, and you'll hear Pasi's great voice in 100% action.
"Liquid of the Kings", "Another Time", "Feed the Fire" is three songs I personally doesn't have any special kind of feelings for, and I wouldn't have been that sad if they were left out.
"I Will Come Again" starts a bit faster, but its mainly another mid-tempo song with a strong chorus, maybe the easiest chorus to sing-a-long with.

"Welcome to the Real", here we speak six and a half minute of heavy-rocking, yet again a mid-tempo tune and it sounds like the most serious song Thunderstone has on this album, great tune also.
"The Last Song", the first song I fell for, this is also the fastest and most typical Suomi-Power tune, and here Thunderstone pleases all the fans of Stratovarius, Sonata Arctica and Celesty.
"Weight of the World", easily the heaviest song on the album, this song shows how heavy Thunderstone has become, and I hope for more tracks like this one on the next album.

And last, we have the big Opus (with a big O), the ballad the wonderful song about the "Land of Innocence", this song might not be liked by all Ballade-haters out there, but for me that has a weakness for heavy emotional ballads can't stop like it, and that it's ticking in on over 8 minutes doesn't do me much.

So, now I think its time to conclude it all, and I'll do it short, since the review became pretty large.
So, if you have any kind of interest in Power Metal in general, or especially Power Metal from Finland, or even better in the band Thunderstone, I can easily say that you won't be disappointed. Thunderstone might be the most promising Power Metal band from Finland today (together with Sonata Arctica), much because Stratovarius very motley last years.

Check Out: "Without Wings", "Welcome to the Real", "The Last Song", "Weight of the World" & "Land of Innocence".