I’ll admit that, at first, I did not pay enough attention to “Johan Langquist the Castle.” Do not ask me why because I really do not know. Maybe the tittle, maybe the name of the band. Beats the hell out of me. However, after hearing it maybe four or five times, I could not stop listening to it. From where I am standing, and from all the Metal music I grew up with, this is a perfect album. I grew up with this kind of Metal. What else can I say?
Why perfect?
For starters, there are albums that I receive here that I listen and like, but I will not listen to them in the future. Not with “Johan Langquist the Castle.” I’ll keep it and listen to it many more times. Second, the feeling of listening to the initial duel between the guitar and the female voice – done by Emelie Lindquist – of album welcomer “Eye of Death“ is a killing combination for me. To some extent, it addressed me to Accept, a band that I love, where this kind of emotional duet is famous. Of course, not exactly the same, but the intent, indeed, it is the same. “Johan Langquist the Castle” is full of emotion, Metal music kind of emotion, if you know what I mean. Tracks like “Freedom“ bring that same mood early Yngwie Malmsteen albums had. That neoclassical emotion that for some it is a lack of emotion. Its combination of pungent guitars on rhythm and the lead guitars using classic music modes – I cannot remember their names right now – makes the song unforgetable. Grande finale “Bird Of Sadness” mixes perfectly the emotion of a ballad with the punch of Metal music with vocals that address to Deep Purple’s Ian Gillan, one of the vocalists I have ever met. By the way, there is something of Deep Purple “Anya” era here. This album is the perfect mix of Accept’s pungent guitars, Yngwie Malmsteen‘s melodic intent, and Deep Purple‘s emotion. Is there anything else I missed?
This is the kind of album that triggers lots of memories from the very depth of my mind. I think music has to pass emotion, an emotion that Johan Langquist’s voice has plenty that “Where Are the Heroes” is one of the examples. I’ll keep “Johan Langquist the Castle” for many more.
Well, a little about the album and its author from the press release. Johan Langquist. Heavy Metal and Doom Metal pioneer with Jonah Quizz and Candlemass, – has created his own solo-entity in form of Johan Langquist the Castle.
Johan has worked together with a wide range of well-known Swedish musicians and the debut album evokes the magic feeling of classic 70s/80s Heavy Metal/Hard Rock/Doom. The idea is not to be seen as a “studio project” – on the contrary a full line-up will soon take shape, and both live-shows and a second album are being worked on.
Johan Langquist the Castle “Johan Langquist the Castle” was released on June 27th via I Hate Records.
Track Listing:
- Eye of Death
- Castle Of My Dreams
- Where Are The Heroes
- Raw Energy
- Revolution
- Freedom
- Bird Of Sadness
Watch “Eyes of Death” official music video here:
I’m just a lucky guy who has chosen metal to live with for a long time. Metal changed my life for good. It made me more confident and stronger. Metalheads are naturally far away from the mass mediocrity and don’t accept impostures from anybody else. Metal is more than music, it’s a life changing oportunity!