Review: Tungsten - The Grand Inferno
Tungsten - The Grand Inferno
Reigning Phoenix Music
Release Date: 8 November 2024
When this album arrived, the name rang a bell, so I did a search on my computer and found a couple of single promos from 2019, the year of the bands first album, We Will Rise. Five years later, this is album number four (already).
Now, not only are Tungsten prolific, the band members are, mostly, from a very talented musical family. Which I have to confess, I’m extremely jealous of as I have zero musical talent, never mind being part of a family with similar interests (and expertise).
Head of the family is drummer, Anders Johansson, who has played with the likes of Manowar, Hammerfall and Yngwie Malmsteen. He is also the brother of Jens Johansson (Dio/ Stratovarius). Joining Anders in the band are his sons, Nick (guitars) and Karl (bass). The interloper is vocalist Michael Andersson… which we’ll probably discover is a distant cousin or something.
Anyway… Power Metal is a real love it or hate it genre for me. Luckily, Tungsten mix up Power Metal with the more traditional take on the genre and they’ve also thrown a Folk edge into their sound as well.
Getting all my Venn diagrams and graphs together, it’s been decided that this album is 60% Traditional Metal, 30% Power Metal and then 10% Folk Metal. Obviously, I am talking complete and utter crap, but it highlights the fact that this is more Metal than cheese.
The closest you get to cheese are the ridiculously catchy tracks that veer towards Folk Metal. With Blood Of The Kings and Walborg both getting stuck in your head after the first listen.
And I really like the balance of the album, if most certainly fits in with my own personal preferences… which might be down to being of a similar age to, Anders Johansson (although I am a few years younger, just). And a lot of the credit must go to vocalist, Michael Andersson,
who has such a warm voice. It fits with the music perfectly.
What else can I add?
I guess the move from Metal to Power Metal was instigated by Ritchie Blackmore when he recruited Joe Lynn Turner to Rainbow back in 1980. Hey, I might be completely wrong on that, but that’s how I see it… And I’d say that Tungsten come from crossover period, rather than the high-pitched screams of the Power Metal era.
Tungsten have brought that sound right up-to-date, given it a Swedish twist and have created The Grand Inferno. Gentleman, thank you for what you’ve created. I love it.
https://www.facebook.com/tungstenband
