Bad Blood – Blisterhead

Swedish punkrockers Blisterhead are following up on their last album with the EP Bad Blood. Blisterhead have never been afraid of trying out new directions, as in the more poppy sound of Under the City Lights, and on Bad Blood they are going the complete opposite direction.

These songs are much darker, both musically and lyrically, and more aggressive than previous releases. It’s almost thematic in how the songs follows the same lyrical and musical style, together with the artwork of the release. For me, who prefers the melodic side of punk and is fond of Blisterheads early releases, including the poppy Under the City Lights, I became a bit worried hearing this at first.

But on opener and title track Bad Blood it becomes clear that Blisterheads DNA is intact, although the direction is different. The chorus of Bad Blood oozes of the groups style. The same is true for Dead Night, Long Live the Church and Violence. Angry and aggressive verses, broken up by equally angry but melodic choruses. The writing is on top all throughout, it really feels that the band has some aggression towards society, and the church in particular, that they wanted to get out.

My biggest concern here is the production, which I think doesn’t really help the songs come to their full potential in my ears. It sounds a bit too lo-fi and somewhat overproduced in the transistor-radio feeling way. I miss some bottom that might have helped to bring forward those heavy dark themes a bit more. It feels more gritty and a production that goes well with a rockier sound. Keep in mind that I’m by no means a producer, and this might have been a conscious choice from the band, but there’s something lacking there.

But that aside, I was positively surprised by this EP. There’s no fillers or skippers, all four songs feels cohesive without blending together. I thought Blisterhead would loose me with the direction they took on Bad Blood, but it’s still a Blisterhead album at its core, and I don’t think they will loose any fans with this, but rather the other way around.