Barcelona is the home of the already long running Metal act ICESTORM. “The Northern Crusades” is their fourth album to date and the first one I ever took notice of. It tells the story of the knights of the Teutonic Order that were a mighty Christian warrior order in the twelfth and thirteenth century. So we have a really ambitious concept lyrically. Yet the best concept doesn’t work without good music. And that’s the greatest problem of “The Northern Crusades”. After a long spoken intro that tells the story of the order, the first song ‘Across The Baltic Sea (Ascent Of The Northern Campaigns)’ comes along as a total AMON AMARTH worship. Honestly, if someone told me that this was a new song from Johan Hegg and his guys, I wouldn’t have doubted that. The trail of the Norsemen runs like a common thread through the album. So far for the better news. On the downside, we find more and more hints on SABATON and even Metalcore and other modern rubbish in the long run of the album that ruins it all. I’m sorry to say that I can’t recommend ICESTORM to most readers of these pages. For more information please visit www.facebook.com/icestormband or www.facebook.com/bloodfirepromo