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Baltimoore: Original Sin (CD, 40:13) LMC 2006-2
Lion Music
Stromsangsvagen 110
22 410 Godby
Aland, FINLAND
CYBERHOME: http://www.lionmusic.com

Baltimoore’s website touts this Scandinavian band as “progressive-metal,”
but after a few spins of their latest CD Original Sin I found out
that nothing could be further from the truth.  Quite frankly, these guys are
about as progressive as Poison.  A better description would be “straight
ahead rock and roll with a singer that sounds like Rod Stewart” – not a
negative description at all, but not progressive at all either.  Sure, there’s
some nice guitar chops and the drumming is pretty steady throughout the
CD, but if you’re looking for long pieces (the longest song here is under 5
minutes) or trick time signature changes you won’t find them here.  So,
rather than focus on what Baltimoore is NOT, let’s focus on what they ARE – a
decent rock and roll band.

The primary instrument in the songs on Original Sin is definitely the
raspy voice of Björn Lodin which sounds like a mix between the aforementioned
Rod Stewart and the Black Crowes Chris Robinson.  The vocals have a whiskey
bar tinge to them as well, which add a certain smoothness to the
proceedings.  Thomas Larsson’s guitar work is pretty darn good - he really
lets loose, along with drummer Eiron Johansson – on the Van Halen-esque
opener “Conviction”.  Baltimoore also throws in an imitation of a Ronnie
James Dio-led Black Sabbath on the song “Omniscience” with its driving
rhythm section and power chord dominated guitar licks.  Pretty good stuff if
you’re into that sort of thing.

Baltimore trips up a bit when it tries to incorporate non-tradition
instruments and styles into its music. Hans Röjas’ violin – while well
played – sounds completely out of place on the track “Conviction,” and when
the band takes a trip down to the Lizard Lounge on “Superman” the results
are far less than exciting.  However, when the boys stick close to
blues-inspired, ripped-up blue jean rock and roll – such as the smooth and
mellow track “Recognition” – they show that they can hold their own as a
Black Crowes-style band.

For those of you looking for the latest in progressive metal, I’m afraid
that you couldn’t get much more off-base than Baltimoore – there simply isn’t
anything progressive about their music.  However, if you like plain ol’
rock and roll riffs with raspy vocals and lots of blues guitar playing, than
Baltimoore’s Original Sin is a solid effort.

More information on Baltimoore can be found at
http://www.lionmusic.com/baltimoore.

- Michael Askounes (michael@gscyclone.com)

PERSONNEL:
Björn Lodin: Guitar, Vox, Bass (4, 9)
Thomas Larsson: Lead Guitar
Lars Pollack: Organ, Keyboards, Piano, Electric Piano
Eiron Johansson: Drums
Joakim Larsson: Bass (1,3,6,8)
Weine Johansson: Bass (2,5,10)
Kjell Dahl: Bass (7)
Jair-Rhome Parker: Bass (9)
Kurt Lindbom: Lead Guitar (5,7)
Thomas Tornefjall: Drums (7)
Hans Rojas: Violin (4)
Villu Veski: Saxophone (7)

TRACKLIST:
1. Conviction (3:10)
2. Indecision (3:47)
3. Emancipation (2:48)
4. Contradiction (4:57)
5. Recognition (4:00)
6. Retribution (4:49)
7. Superman (4:22)
8. Omniscience (3:37)
9. Jealousy (4:34)
10. Redemption (4:05)


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