Jorn
Worldchanger

Jorn Lande is, in my opinion, one of the best singers in the metal scene today. He has certainly demonstrated this with Masterplan, but especially with Tore Østby's divine Ark. Here I want to talk about his first solo effort, supported by Tore Moren on guitars, Sid Ringsby on bass, and - drumroll please - Jan Askel on drums. Don't know who Jan Askel is? He's none other than Hellhammer, cherished by black metal fans.

The work develops through nine colorful songs, centered around good heavy metal, but not excessively so. I mean that the genre is predominantly metal (with a few splashes of prog here and there), but decidedly melodic: the Norwegian singer showcases all his undeniable qualities, crafting elegant vocal lines, more conventional than those we’ve heard with Ark and less power metal than with Masterplan. We find some impressive vocal passages, in front of which one can only tip their hat. The other musicians are hard at work: while the bass is not as prevalent here as in Ark, the guitars and drums take on significant importance. The guitars are ever-present, but never overwhelming and very "cheerful," so as not to say heavy; the drums are played masterfully: Anyone who imagines a black metal drummer as a pounding machine incapable of anything beyond last-breath fights with the metronome is, at least in this case, very wrong. The Norwegian's technique is excellent, and creativity is evident in the composition of the songs.
The album welcomes us with the fun "Tungur Knivur" (which means heavy knives in Norwegian), and unfolds into eight other great tracks, such as "Glow In The Dark", the title track "Worldchanger", and the beautiful hard rock song "Christine" above all.

A great album, fun and enjoyable, highly recommended. The only flaw, not attributable to the band, is the difficulty in finding the album, which I was lucky enough to come across in a small "enthusiast's" shop. For fans of classic metal.