Description

Still sealed with slipcase and 4 bonus tracks from the unreleased National Force album. Limited 500 copies

Glory Bells Band were among those bands that started the wave of Swedish heavy metal bands. After a show at the club ‘Underground’ in Stockholm a guy from a record company stuck a record contract into their hands. Soon after the band was in the Decibel studios recording their first album Dressed In Black an album that was released in 1982. The Swedish metal scene was undeniably influenced in large part by NWOBHM; of course, so was almost all heavy metal from that time period. However, there was a distinct flavor to the scene that made it subtly but significantly different from the other scenes of the time. Rather than continue the occult and satanic feel of Angel Witch and their ilk, as the French did, many Swedish bands (and most of the best, in my opinion) focused on more epic and triumphant themes. In this respect it was similar to the US heavy metal of the 80’s, but genealogically as well as geographically, Sweden was much closer to NWOBHM. For one, the dual guitar harmony passages are still in full force in many bands, only slightly more developed than they were in their NWOBHM predecessors; for another, the dirty hard rock influence is often much more obvious. The riff construction in Glory Bell’s Band, for example, sounds a lot more like Saxon than Omen, though thematically they were often closer to the latter. That sound tended to diminish in Sweden as the 80’s wore on, however; on Saigon’s 1985 masterpiece One Must Die, for example, most of that had been left behind. With that progression in mind, I tend to think of the Swedish sound of the time as halfway between NWOBHM and US heavy metal. It may be oversimplification, but when thinking of the many, many various styles and sub-styles that made up the nebulous “80’s heavy metal”, simplification can be helpful. Now, all that said, Glory Bell’s Band (later known as just ‘Glory Bells’) is still clearly a transitional band, with one foot in epic territory and one in rock. The cover artwork painted by the singer Goran Nord. Probably the first thing that’ll grab your attention when firing up this album (ok, the first thing after the cool riffing) is the wailing vocals of Glory North/Goran Nord. His style is rather hard to convey accurately through words, but basically he generally sings in this warbly falsetto with a really weird warm tone to it. He does sing in a lower register once in a while (“I’m the Captain”, for example), and it’s not bad, but it’s definitely the falsetto you’ll remember him for. In the very early 80’s especially, many bands were struggling to find identity (see Manilla Road’s first album). Sadly, Glory Bell’s Band ditched the epic elements on their second album, and though there are at least some fun rockers on it, by 1985, the Swedish scene and metal in general had come to expect something more. Nevertheless, they leave us here with a handful of amazing songs. With Franco Santunione who later joined Electric Boys

Track list:
1. Dressed In Black
2. Guest Working Man
3. I’m The Captain
4. Sir Lionheart
5. Firestorm
6. Flying Dutchman
7. City In My Soul
8. This Is Freedom
9. Old Viking Man
10. Military Toys
11. Want You, Need You
12. National Force
13. My Last Songwriter
14. 10.000 Fahrenheit