Reviews
2005-07-20
Tools Of Destruction, the third LP by Thunderstone, is not exceptional or extraordinary. It's really a typical European Power Metal album. This Finnish band is continuing the style that its countrymen Sonata Arctica and Stratovarius are setting. Pasi Rantanen's voice goes well with the nicely produced sounds. His voice can rise to high tones but he isn't squeaky, and he is not squealing when he doesn't have to.
The riffs and the passages are quite predictable and they fit this European Power Metal Genre, but that doesn't mean they're not pleasant for the ears. The work by Nino Laurenne on the guitar, Mirka Rantanen on the drums and Kari Tornack on the keyboards is very professional.
Don't go looking for any unusual messages on the lyrics here. Songs like Feed The Fire, Liquid Of The Kings or Without Wings are not filled with cries for war or for a better society. But as I mentioned earlier the album is very pleasant to hear, there are a few ballads like Welcome To The Real and a few fast-pace songs like the opener for this album, Tool Of The Devil. All in all, it seems like Thunderstone are finding their own ground, and they've got a second album in two years to show for it, even if it contains only ten songs. They already have some accolades on this album and its first single. The band received their fair share of thumbs up around the world for a good and professional work on this album, and the first single, Tool Of The Devil, ended up at number three on the singles chart in Finland, Thunderstone's native country. That same hit, by the way, was composed by Nino Laurenne the guitarist and one of the band members who gives some backing vocals. Nino is also the one who started this band in the year 2000.
Nir Haviv
