“It’s very old school in a way,” Bloodbound guitarist Tomas Olsson modestly says of their new album, Field of Swords, out November 21 via Napalm Records. “It has its roots in classic heavy metal bands such as Judas Priest and also the faster stuff, like that European epic, melodic, sing-along power metal from a band like Halloween. Lately, we have tried to develop some more modern touches and add different keyboard arrangements. It’s very melodic but still heavy.”
Over the course of eleven captivating tracks that expertly combine Viking era history— a subject that has long fascinated Olsson—and melodic power metal. “Our previous album, Tales from the North, was basically about the Viking era, here in Sweden. It started around 800 and ended in 1066, that’s the story of the previous album, with the last song being about the final battle in England. The new album picks up in 1096, which was the first crusade. It’s a new era in European history, a more medieval era. It’s a concept album telling the stories from that period of the nine crusades that started in 1096 and ended in 1291, which is pretty cool.”
Formed in 2004 in Bolinas, Sweden by songwriter and lead guitarist Olsson and keyboardist Fredrik Bergh after being a part of other bands over the years, Bloodbound is a group that never played by the rules. Focusing on themes such as anger, agony and purgatory, the band has explored traditional heavy metal since their inception, while weaving in fantasy metal, black metal, and power and melodic additions throughout their career, breaking through the heavy metal scene with their 2006 debut record, Nosferatu, and their 2007 sophomore effort, Book of the Dead. A Game of Thrones inspired fantasy epic album series, starting with Stormborn, was released from 2014 through 2019, followed by 2021’s Creatures of the Dark Realm and 2024’s Tales of The North, which saw the band diving into power metal rooted in themes of Norse mythology and history. With over twenty years in the scene, the band continues to be a heavy metal institution of Sweden, performing at Metalfest and other music festivals and locations throughout Europe and around the globe.
For Tomas, this album is something that he’s loved to create. “I’ve always been fascinated by Viking-era history from school, but we started out doing horror movie themes first with Nosferatu and then we wrote a few albums on that theme and got into more fantasy-based stuff like dragons and Game of Thrones. We felt like we wanted to do something about Scandinavia and our own history, which is why we did Tales from the North. The new album is like a continuation of the Viking era, which is also about medieval Europe.” Olsson is also a fan of the medieval time-period regarding films such as the extended version of Kingdom of Heaven and shows like Game of Thrones, which make him feel like he’s “walking into history, revisiting them due to the subject matter of the album, and the natural surroundings and simplicity of the period.
Walking into history is part of the listening experience on this album. “There are hints here and there about the Crusader era, from the first crusade through the ninth crusade, bits and pieces that represent glimpses of what happened during that time.” It was a “fun” album to write for Olsson, saying that he “knew quite a lot about the history” but “it was an opportunity for me to learn as well.”
Olsson hopes that listeners take in the history and are enlivened by the record. “Even though most people might not read into the story that much, they will get the vibe of that period. It’s about how people evolve. We learned how to handle steel and iron, make swords and other tools, and modern living started to develop. The history is important, but so is being uplifting and the singing that makes the crowd sing along. When you write a song, you want to get the feeling that it’s going to be nice to play live.”
With their signature sound weaving together stories of triumph and glory, the band turns battle scars and epic warfare into something that fans can both lean on and learn from.
Field of Swords is out Friday, and you can preorder it from Napalm Records. Follow Bloodbound on Facebook and Instagram for future updates.
Photo Credit: Björn Liljegrääs
