Out of Bergen, Norway, Blood Command practise a singular crossing of hardcore punk, metalcore and pop sensibility, which they themselves have dubbed « deathpop ». After several singer changes that could have destabilised any outfit, the band approach World Domination with new vocalist Nikki Brumen, whose arrival gives decisive fresh breath to a project always in search of balance.
The critics (an 80 average across six reviews) hail an immediate and formidably efficient record. The press praise the way Blood Command combine the aggression of hardcore and the clarity of choruses built to stick in the head, never setting brutality against melody. Nikki Brumen’s contagious energy works wonders.
Musically, World Domination chains short, punchy firebrands: cutting riffs, breakdowns, euphoric melodic surges. The band embrace a frontal aesthetic, cut for the stage and the crowd movement, where each track aims for maximum impact in minimum time.
This pursuit of immediate efficiency has its downside: the record at times lacks relief, the tracks tending to resemble one another in structure as in intensity. The listener may regret a somewhat narrow emotional palette, sacrificed on the altar of punch.
Verdict: 8/10. An energetic, jubilant record that ideally relaunches Blood Command — a shot of melodic adrenaline, unpretentious but perfectly calibrated.
