I’ve been lookin’ forward to this album since I heard their first demos and raw mixes on MySpace. To begin with I thought their “Bear Metal”-label for their music was a bit strange, but now that I’ve heard the finished album, I know what they mean. When you hear this, it’s very easy to imagine yourself meeting a big brown bear, that want to give you a very tight “hug”!

This is the perfect mix between heavy rock with a metal attitude, mixed with progressive elements, a touch of thrash (early Bay Area (listen to Anchor, and hear if you don’t hear similarities to Seek and  Destroy – but no rip off)), and plain ol’ kick-ass southern rock feel! Sound strange? Not at all, the mix of styles is natural and convincing. This surely won me over.

The Norwegian 5-piece is the classic line-up: singer, two guitars, bass and drums, and every one does a solid job on their instruments, and all in the band delivers a dedicated effort to make this, their first album, a real rocker. Live they do well as well, see live review elsewhere on this page.

Only slight complaint from my side – the sound is dirty but still clear, very appropriate for this music, but I miss a bit of the bottom end. The bass and the bass drum is not quite as deep and at the front in the mix, as I like – I like it as a kick in the stomach.

For the past month I’ve had to hear my favourite song “ Sweet Agony” at least twice a day – this is one of those that’ll turn into one of the ultimate heavyrock songs I’ve ever heard – a classic to last a lifetime!

The bear definitely rocks – give me another bear hug like this, the sooner the better.

Go for this one!