Breitenhold – The Inn Of Sorrowing Souls

Breitenhold

The Inn Of Sorrowing Souls

by Craig Rider at 11 October 2015, 6:19 AM

BREITENHOLD is a one-man band from Sweden, very underground and a very strange one; at least to find any kind of information out on… All I know is, is that Ced does everything – which at first I thought was an shocking but original concept for a Speed/Power Metal “band” however, Ced has talent for performing such a feat on his own terms. Some fine vocal talent which almost had some Kobra Paige moments, which a nice touch for me; being a big fan of KOBRA AND THE LOTUS.

BREITENHOLD “holds” some strange elements though, like at the beginning of “The Inn Of Sorrowing Souls” has this good and powerful riff with keyboard hums – but you'd think a change of “solo” would make the ambient mood a better direction rather than a full blown, same old riff. Not to say it doesn't sound bad – just sounded a bit off in my opinion.

BREITENHOLD and Ced conduct some convenient MANOWAR “power” and “pounding” events while having that ANVIL musicianship and vocals almost on par with DORO, the queen of Metal herself as well as some fantastic growls; almost on par with Angela Gossow from ARCH ENEMY. There's definitely something for everyone in this venture.

The strange thing I found odd the most was the riffs that carry on very low during a chorus section which I had never heard of before – as previously stated; it sounds a little off – not to say it sounded bad, just a little weird. The same happened in “Haunted Dreams”. However; it's not a bad concept. “The Inn Of Sorrowing Souls” was a strange album first time around; but the more I listened; the more I opened my mind to it. “Mirror Of Life” continues the Angela Gossow vocals I was talking about earlier, fusing with Kobra Paige elements; really folk-like music here.

Ced performs some really great riffs (despite what I was talking about earlier), that make him a fine one-man band musician. From fine artwork to fairly incredible, singular motives. The Speed Metal tradition is also strong and just; pretty much blows my mind that one person can do such a thing. He has done this twice now with a full previous album entitled “Secret Worlds” with this project BREITENHOLD; Ced almost contributes to ROCKA ROLLAS which is an impressive feat on its own; holding down 2 bands at a time cannot be an easy task.

“Something Of The Past” is noteworthy for having those Kobra Paige vocals I loved so much; and my most favourable track was probably “Halls Of Steel”; having the most power on the album, very powerful riffs and vocals; and just a rich and enchanting track. Despite the similarity riff at the beginning of the album - it grows on you in the end.

Overall, the concept is a great idea.; Ced conducts some original but uniquely fabulous vocal, riffs and drumming skills. I was going to give this a 7 but I feel an 8 sounds fair due to the incredible musical value this one-man band can perform; really amazing.

Check it out.