Warmen : "Here For None"

The Keyboardist from Children of Bodom started a new band. In many ways he carries on the tradition of his former glory, almost predictably so. I was not the biggest fan of Children of Bodom, as the whole shredding thing does not do a great deal for me. With that in mind, the similar antics employed here are not going to impress me thus leaving me to only consider how well these songs are written at the end of the day that is all that matters. There is a slight 80's synth wave feel to some of the synth sounds, which help.The vocals which are courtesy of  Petri Lindroos from Ensiferum, are not trying to recreate what Alexi Laiho did, so that helps give these guys an identity outside of Children of Bodom, though there are plenty of similar sonic elements. 

Sometimes when they pour on the speed you can hear where they might have been better served going for a more deliberate groove. They songwriting is efficient as the songs typically stay under the four minute mark. "A World of Pain" has a barked gang vocal on the chorus, but pretty much races down a similar road as their past affiliations. The drummer tends to lean toward the blasty side, rather than holding things down during the solo sections. The more 80's groove of "Too Much, Too Late" works better than the more thrashing songs. In fact it's the best of the first four songs for certain. The vocals have more purpose when things have a more deliberate pacing. The main verse riffs is pretty killer. 

"Night Terrors" starts off with a cool synth sound , but gets lost in the middle of the road thrashing and begins to sound like everyone else. "Hell On Four Wheels" suffers a similar fate in the originality department. The fast chug begin to feel like bookend for the solo section. "End of the Line' does have a more melodic break down in the middle to help things breathe. The overall feel aside from this is not much different than the previous song. While it's one of the catchier riffs on the album "Death's On Its Way" is one of the most thrash influenced songs on this album. Though it does rely on speed a great deal. They do a better job at capturing the catchy punchiness of the genre.

Things slow down for "the Cold Unknown". This is not done to the same level of effectiveness as "Too Much, Too Late" but better than the bulk of the album they blaze through.  They close the album with a cover of Ultravox's "Dancing With Tears in My Eyes". This does not break a great deal of new ground for them sonically. The vocals prove to be the biggest limitation when stepping into this song. I will give this album an 8, it's well done, and there are memorable moments. They pulls off everything and honor the past while making a new future, though never reinventing the wheel here.