Metal Caravans

Genre: Heavy Metal

TRACKLIST:

   1. "Young Forever" - 4:54
   2. "Out To Every Nation" - 4:23
   3. "Something Real" - 5:40
   4. "Living With Wolves" - 3:53
   5. "Vision Eyes" - 4:11
   6. "One Day We Will Put Out The Sun" - 6:25
   7. "Behind The Clown" - 4:15
   8. "Rock Spirit" - 4:36
   9. "Through Day And Night" - 4:43
  10. "When Angel Wings Were White" - 7:03
  11. "Big" (Japan bonus track)

A third solo album from Jorn "Babyface" Lande, who on the front cover is grimacing like he is taking a nasty dump (with help of the Norwegian flag, no less). Why did he shed the makeup for the cover photo is beyond me: his "made-up" photo in the booklet is much more "metal." The line-up has changed completely: it's now Magnus Rosen (bass; mostly known for his work in Hammerfall), Jorn Viggo Lofstad (guitars; leader of a Norwegian prog band Pagan's Mind), Ronny Tegner (keys), and Stian Kristoffersen (drums; also a member of Firewind). The album itself is pretty good, but not quite as good as either "Starfire" or "Worldchanger." The melodies are not as fabulous and vocal lines are not as memorable as before. The riffs also mostly come across as dull, at least by Jorn's standards. The production is fairly dry as well. I had similar criticisms for Halford's "Crucible" album, and certain songs on "OtEN," like "Young Forever" and "Living with Wolves," remind me of it, in their "riffs for the sake of riffs" approach. Still, there are some excellent moments that are as good as anything Jorn has written: a lovely title track with a great intro and Jorn's trademark melodic chorus filled with haunting vocals, rocking "Something Real" and "One Day We will Put out the Sun," as well as more mellow, introspective "Vision Eyes" and "Behind the Clown." Stop-and-go riffing in "Through the Day and Night" resembles Ark. On the other hand, "Rock Spirit" makes me think of "rokkin' with Dokken," and that's not a good thing: talk about being twenty years too late! Jorn's voice is as strong as ever (and he treats us to his great low singing in "When Angel Wings Were White"), but with the exception of the title track, it never quite reaches the tremendous passion of "Starfire," "House of Cards," "Sunset Station," or "Christine." The drumming of Hellhammer is gone, and the new skin beater, Stian Kristoffersen, is competent, but fairly generic. I admit I like the lyrics: clearly Jorn put some effort into them, and they're cool (except I don't really dig the Christian overtones in "When Angel..."). Overall: a fine album, but Jorn would do himself a service by taking some time off.