It's funny, mere hours before I first popped this disc in for a listen, I reminded myself just how sick I am of melodic Swedish death metal as I sampled yet another mediocre album from said genre. Then I finally found the time to check out "Bedtime Prayers", the sophomore full-length from Sweden's Blinded Colony on Pivotal Rockordings, and what do you know: It's pretty god damn good! Proving yet again that there's still life to be heard in the realm of melodic Swedish death metal—and most of that life is—logically—still coming from Sweden itself! Of course, that's not to say that this is an original album, because the band's approach is rather comparable to more recent excursions from In Flames and Soilwork (tossing in some of the thrashy energy of The Haunted for good measure)—both in terms of general riffing and song structure as well as utilizing sneering screams and singing. However, amidst the relatively standard harmonies and arrangements are some truly powerful moments, and I'd easily rank the admirably consistent quality of the songwriting right up there with the biggest names in this niche of the genre. The aggressive vocals sound genuinely ferocious, I'd say the singing is a bit stronger than even some of the most notable of the band's contemporaries, tasteful smatterings of keyboards don't disrupt the dominance of guitars throughout the disc, and the recording is excellent. Restricting the album to just nine tracks in 36 minutes is also very commendable, because such brevity keeps things moving and leaves no room for filler. I really didn't expect it, but this is an incredibly solid offering that should easily place Blinded Colony alongside the other Swedish "greats" playing this style of metal. Nicely done!
As always, I wholly encourage you to buy the album for yourself if you're into it:
