Iron Lamb
The original sin
Pulverised Records
The Stockholm crew have taken some flak from the death metal community since they first hit the streets around two years ago and, to be honest, it's understandable in a way. Iron Lamb might consist of three parts Repugnant and one part Daniel Ekeroth, but to say that there's not a hint of extreme metal in "The original sin" is quite the understatement. You can see why the death metallers were plenty pissed, then, as they've probably checked this out on the back of the lineup and been sickened to the bone at the distinct lack of filth. Iron Lamb is punked-up metal that, to these ears at least, is like a slightly more uptempo -- and more technically proficient -- Dog Eat Dog in a lot of places, and often sounds off like a lot of the covers found on Slayer's "Undisputed attitude" album. Despite the obvious potential shown here, from the decent (yet already done to death) songwriting to the musical expertise on offer, "The original sin" fails to hit the highs promised by the involvement of such talent. It's a difficult album to sit through, mainly because of a production that fails to pack the punch it should together with weak-as-water hardcore vocals that lack the vehemence that the music would clearly have benefitted from. This sounds like a band of extremely talented metal musicians who have tried their hand at a simple genre and succeeded in creating something that has been done so much better by so many others in the past. It's a damn shame, because on paper it's a project that I would love to love.
- John Norby
