Description

It’s obvious these boys from Umea, Sweden have listened to their fair share of NWOBHM; but somehow, they managed to catch the Wave before it had actually subsided or had even gotten terribly stale. 1984 was the same year Cloven Hoof put out their first album, and the year before Angel Witch put out their second…certainly not a year for pioneering, but it was still in time to make this solid statement in the style. Gotham City took a major step forward with ‘The Unknown’. The band kicked out Ola Ohlsson who sang on ‘Black Writs’ and in came Anders Zackrisson, who is very competent singer and even manages to sound like he wants to be there. He has a voice that’s on the higher end of mid-range, and hits some pretty high notes, without ever straying into falsetto territory. He’s forceful as well, and makes effective use of multi-tracking, though on some songs, like the closer ‘Borderline’, it’s a tad overused. He doesn’t have a terribly original personality or anything, he’s no Bruce Dickinson, but he’s both skilful and passionate, and that’s more than one can reasonably expect from an unknown band like this. ‘The Unknown’ is a fine effort, and is only slightly marred by a couple of weak tracks. It hints at the epic heavy metal direction that a lot of NWOBHM bands would take in the later years, like Cloven Hoof did. The cover art even displays a drawn barbarian in the finest epic heavy metal tradition. For any fan of early heavy metal, Nwobhm or want to check out some of the best Swedish metal from the early days should get this album. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to listen to ‘Battle Blade’ again. Track listing: 1. Swords And Chains 2. The Beast Will Burn 3. See How It Flyes 4. Revage In Town 5. Going Insane 6. Battle Blade 7. Learn From Your Leaders 8. Borderline 9. The Unknown