The Dagger
The Dagger
Century Media
2014
In this panic of the retro hard & heavy releases and bands of the last years, thankfully there are some which stand out of the mass. This time it was a bunch of death metalers (yeap you read right!) which decided to honor their roots and play the music they grew up with. This Swedish band was formed in 2009 by the drummer Fred Estby (Necronaut, ex-Dismember), the bassist Tobias Cristiansson (Grave, ex-Dismember) and the guitarist David Blomqvist (ex-Dismember). It was later, around 2012, and after a thorough search, that the singer Jani Kataja (ex. Sideburn, Mangrove) joined them.
The Dagger, in comparison with other acts of the same style, are balancing between the late 70s and the early 80s classic hard rock & heavy metal music and have been influenced by bands like Rainbow, Dio, Blue Oyster Cult, Deep Purple, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, UFO, Scorpions and so forth. The smooth production has a sweet late70s/early80s feeling and it’s wonderful largely.
Another thing that I must mention is the amazing melodious solos delivered by David. Those guitar leads make each track even more captivating. David seems to have “studied” very well, especially the master of all, Ritchie Blackmore, Michael Schenker, Dave Murray & Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser among others.
“The Dagger” can be described as a fist of 70s/80s hard & heavy music. Jani gives some amazing performances… he’s so into the whole “retro” music spirit. Moreover their debut features a “classic track”! Yeap, it’ ain’t easy to find any classic songs in albums of that kind nowadays… but The Dagger just did it! “Ballad of an Old Man” is a bloody classic! It’s like this song has been crafted in the late 70s. So friggin awesome! All things considered, The Dagger managed to release a remarkable hard & heavy album which only set the basis for their future endeavors… these guys can and will take it all the way…
The Dagger, in comparison with other acts of the same style, are balancing between the late 70s and the early 80s classic hard rock & heavy metal music and have been influenced by bands like Rainbow, Dio, Blue Oyster Cult, Deep Purple, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, UFO, Scorpions and so forth. The smooth production has a sweet late70s/early80s feeling and it’s wonderful largely.
Another thing that I must mention is the amazing melodious solos delivered by David. Those guitar leads make each track even more captivating. David seems to have “studied” very well, especially the master of all, Ritchie Blackmore, Michael Schenker, Dave Murray & Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser among others.
“The Dagger” can be described as a fist of 70s/80s hard & heavy music. Jani gives some amazing performances… he’s so into the whole “retro” music spirit. Moreover their debut features a “classic track”! Yeap, it’ ain’t easy to find any classic songs in albums of that kind nowadays… but The Dagger just did it! “Ballad of an Old Man” is a bloody classic! It’s like this song has been crafted in the late 70s. So friggin awesome! All things considered, The Dagger managed to release a remarkable hard & heavy album which only set the basis for their future endeavors… these guys can and will take it all the way…