Detailed Reviews [Tinkicker - 2014 - "The Cup of the Lord and the Wine of Demons"]

Prolusion. The Danish band TINKICKER appeared more or less out of nowhere back in 2008, signed to the Russian label MALS Records, which issued their debut album "Soliloquy of the Transparent Boy". Since then new albums have appeared every three years. Their third and most recent CD is called "The Cup of the Lord and the Wine of Demons" and was released in 2014, once again on MALS Records.

Analysis. While Tinkicker uses the description Pink Sabbath about their music on their homepage, that is a description that isn't all that describing as far as their latest album is concerned. In terms of style there's probably a lot more off the latter than the former, at least if you limit the description to cover the musical elements. Indeed, as far as the audience of this production goes I'd suspect that those with a taste for progressive rock won't get that much out of it, as apart from some structural elements and the fact that this is a thematic or a concept album there just isn't a whole lot of music that can be described as progressive rock on this CD. Instead, booming bass guitars and meaty guitar riffs of a similar dark toned nature are what dominates this album through and through, in a manner that makes me think of early 80's heavy metal first and foremost. Besides the most intense moments, bringing to mind both power metal and speed metal, we do get occasional moments of majestic guitar and keyboard arrangements that do have a slight progressive metal touch to them, but meaty, mid-paced riff cascades with an early 80's metal sound are the dominating trait, complete with a liberal use of harmony guitar solo overlays, closely followed by slower paced, massive riffs of the kind that makes it natural to namedrop good, old Black Sabbath. Delicate interludes with a light toned guitar in the limelight appear now and then, at times giving the music a slight touch of late 70's Rush, especially on the occasions when careful keyboards season the arrangements. The powerful lead vocals of Klaus Bastian emphasize the metal orientation of this production quite nicely, he comes across as a fairly typical heavy metal vocalist. In a good way I might add, his voice is somewhat strained at times, but first and foremost his voice is powerful, melodic and controlled. On the negative side I note that mix and production leave a bit to be desired, at least as regarded from the point of view of a writer who listen to vast amounts of progressive rock made by artists who makes perfectionist sound like a description of someone lacking in ambition. For fans of heavy metal in general and the early 80's variety of it in particular that should be less of an issue however, and for many this particular, somewhat basic oriented mix and production, may even be regarded as a positive feature that reminds them of the heyday of this type of music.

Conclusion. The Danish band Tinkicker appears to have specialized themselves in the creation of conceptual albums, and in terms of general style early 80's heavy metal appears to be their main platform this time around. Some trace elements of music that reminds of late 70's Rush may be uncovered by the avid listener, while just about anyone that gives this disc a spin should easily hear certain Black Sabbath inspired vibes as a recurring feature throughout. Still, classic heavy metal is the bread and butter of this one from what I can hear, and if you enjoy that kind of music this CD is worth an inspection.

OMB=Olav M Bjornsen: August 8, 2014
The Rating Room