Black Eyed Children

Black Eyed Children was my first encounter with Swedish band Astral Doors. After looking into the band a bit I was surprised to see they had been around since 2002, with an impressive eight full-lengths under their belt, but yet somehow I had never heard of them. After listening to this release I quickly discovered why.

Black Eyed Children starts of really well with the track We Cry Out. The entire song just screams Dio worship, with epic guitar riffs, banging drums and a typical EUPM synth track, supported by vocalist Nils Patrik Johansson doing his best Ronnie James Dio impression. However, a few more song in, Black Eyed Children’s biggest flaw quickly becomes clear: It’s horribly boring. All songs are essentially interchangeable, the same catchy choruses, shredding guitar solos and synth tracks over and over again, without any build up whatsoever. Sure, there are a few songs that stand out, the title track, Lost Boy and the aforementioned We Cry Out come to mind, but clocking in at 55 minutes, the entire album just ends up dragging on for far too long.

There is nothing wrong with the individual songs however. Astral Doors actually pulls the blend of traditional metal with power metal influences off quite well. They strongly reminded me of Canadian band Striker, while also hearkening back to Dio-era Sabbath and Rainbow. They might not do anything memorable, but the overall listening experience wasn’t a bad one and Black Eyed Children might actually strike a chord with the right audience.

After doing a bit more research on Astral Doors it became clear that their releases after what is considered the peak of their career, Astralism, are known for being notoriously boring. This album hasn’t got a chance to end up with my favourite albums of 2017, but it also certainly won’t end up with the worst. Instead Black Eyed Children will be banished to purgatory with the other releases that fail to do anything memorable.

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Astral Doors deserve a little bit more credit than they actually get. Formed in Sweden in 2002, Astral Doors play a blend of heavy metal with power metal leanings, but also have a sound that is laden in that mid-to-late 1970’s keyboard sound and would appeal to fans of Dio era Black Sabbath and Rainbow, Mk III Deep Purple or Uriah Heep. As a band though, Astral Doors are far more than a throwback from a different era, able to chug it out with a modern twist that would also appeal to fans of Jorn, Primal Fear and Iron Savior. Since their inception in 2002, Astral Doors have had a steady release of albums. However, this progress was slowed down by vocalist Nils Patrik Johansson joined Sabaton alumni in Civil War before leaving in 2016. However, it is now 2017 and Astral Doors are back with their 8th release; 'Black Eyed Children'.

As you would expect, Astral Doors start 'Black Eyed Children' with keyboard soundscaping, building up and up into what feels like a live concert intro tape before a pickscrape announces the start of 'We Cry Out'. 'We Cry Out' begins with a riff that wouldn’t be out of place on the early Dio album, with its infectious chorus and blistering twin guitar harmony solo from guitarists Mats Gesar and Joachim Nordlund makes 'We Cry Out' easily one of the best tracks on 'Black Eyed Children'.

It would seem that being a member of Civil War has had a lasting impact on Johansson. Johansson cut his teeth with Astral Doors as a possible successor to Ronnie James Dio with his fantastic heavy metal voice, Johansson easily able to switch from Dio’s melodic rasp to the soulfully deep larynx of David Coverdale or Jorn Lande. But with Civil War, Johansson sang with a higher, exceptionally unique squeal and it is this voice which Johansson chooses to use consistently on 'Black Eyed Children'. Lyrically, 'Black Eyed Children' is actually closer to Civil War than Astral Doors, tracks such as 'Walls', 'God is the Devil', 'Lost Boy' and title track all bear the hallmarks of the historically tinged lyrics that is put forward by Civil War, in fact, 'Walls' is possibly the best track that Civil War never recorded.

As with 'We Cry Out', there are decent flashes of previous Astral Doors, 'Die On Stage' features all the overly macho pomposity of the 1980’s about the joys of playing live, whilst 'Tomorrow’s Dead' would not be out of place on 'Mob Rules' with its Tony Iommi style picking clean riff before descending into the sort of grinding riff that Iommi would have been proud to write. 'Tomorrow’s Dead' is heightened and highlighted by the fantastic drum and bass pattern from John Lindstedt and Ulf Lagerström, between them, they show that it isn’t always about how much you play, but what you actually play and this selectiveness makes 'Tomorrow’s Dead' the best song on 'Black Eyed Children' with Johansson giving his best Dio impression.

'Black Eyed Children' is decent enough, however, many of the songs are unmemorable and fail to stick. The title track itself begins with a picking pattern that is reminiscent of Judas Priest in the late 80’s, but overall, the track tries its best to be a Dio-esque album closer, but drags on to nearly 9 minutes and doesn’t particularly go anywhere. Whilst there is some excellent playing throughout with Johansson showing what a talented vocalist he can be with his range of dynamics, there is a lack of sustenance giving the feeling that 'Black Eyed Children' was a little rushed. 'Black Eyed Children' is average at best and there are a few songs which save this album from being truly abysmal.

After Nils Patrik Johansson unceremoniously left Civil War a few months ago, I just assumed he'd dropped off the map completely - forgetting of course about Astral Doors, who have been constantly active since 2002. The Swedes have had their fair share of ups and downs over the years - with 2010's Requiem Of Time being a particularly low point - but always fly the flag proudly for melodic heavy metal. Here in 2017, NPJ and co. return to the fold with Black Eyed Children: an hour of punchy heavy metal done in their familiar style. There is less of a power metal influence here than on, say, Evil Is Forever - but although the epic flair has been diluted, it's still present on certain tracks. If the cover art is anything to go by, this might be their attempt to darken their sound. In which case, it both fails and succeeds depending on what you look for in an Astral Doors album.

Firstly, I'll address what succeeds. The production quality is superb: a beefy guitar tone which thrives on the deep chugs; an incredibly powerful drum sound which really drives the whole affair; and Nils, the vocalist who defines 'inimitable', sounding hungrier than ever. Unfortunately, despite the etherealness of the opening moments, the keyboard too often utilizes a rock organ timbre, thereby erasing any dark atmosphere they had previously established. Occasionally, the keyboard stands out effectively - like the mysterious ending of "Walls" - but otherwise, it's just a button-press away from being the right sound. For all the average tracks like the one just mentioned, at least there is the sprawling title-track; an eight-minute crawler that succeeds in both its atmosphere and songwriting prowess.

The songwriting has suffered a little, but it's hard to explain why. There's no sense of build-up and release, rather verses simply plough into choruses - making it difficult to tell which is which. Some choral vocals, added symphonics, or even just being louder, would've helped. There are exceptions, like the rocking "Die On Stage", and the epic title-track - but otherwise, each track passes by semi-monotonously. This is one of the few times I've craved a ballad on an album (no, "Tomorrow's Dead" doesn't count). Also, I know this is primarily a heavy metal band, but the power metal flavours would have been welcome if they were more prevalent. The tempo only ever picks up on "Good vs. Bad", but even that isn't to heights I know Astal Doors are capable of. This song is definitely where the rock organ is at its most offensive. But thank heavens for the insane synth brass in "Slaves To Ourselves"!

There's nothing inherently bad about this album. It's just a shame that such an awesome production quality was wasted on this limited one-tone songwriting. Some of the riffs are memorable, like "Lost Boy" or the previously-mentioned "Good vs. Bad"; the solos are absolutely blazing - Joachim Nordlund and Mats Gesar deserve praise for their perfect execution; and the occasional track will jut out as being more exciting than the rest. Otherwise, Black Eyed Children would make amazing background music at a metal party - but doesn't quite hold its own as a memorable heavy metal album. Recommended for fans only, or anyone who just wants to nod their head along to some chugging riffs and amazing solos.