Haerdsmaelta
All Alone in the Danger Zone

The cover is art, painted by a close relative to the band, and their name is a more international spelling of the term Härdsmälta, Nuclear Meltdown if you translate. All Alone in the Danger Zone might be them being there because of such Nuclear problem that has led to contamination of the land, maybe from the Forsmark plant that isn’t too far from the band’s location in Uppsala. It is their debut album album and it looks quite interesting, inspired by the Chernobyl disaster possibly. But does it sound interesting? Is the music as much art as the cover?

Apocalyptic post punk is what I read from the label, a fitting description. It is punkish, aggressive with apocalyptic undertones. An interesting sound, but not an original one. The aggressive voice, the aggressive tones, and the punkish lyrics makes it an album that should be fairly accessible due to a pretty simple structure and direct approach. The soundtrack to your everyday disaster perhaps, considering that meltdowns aren’t really that uncommon in the nuclear power plants and most of them are aging it might be that we are in for some time in the danger zones. So are you ready with the iodide?

I think that this is a good album with good songs, the atmospheres are interesting and the music powerful. But while it is good, it is not particularly original or exciting in that regard, I like the apocalyptic angle but the music itself isn’t that memorable. I also miss a standout hit song; the songs work but none of them really stand out from the masses. I doubt they will sell millions of copies of this album, but what do I know about selling stuff? They will have their fans, and perhaps they number in the millions.

If you are into the punkish kind of music this will be an album worth checking out. I don’t think it is as memorable as a good nuclear meltdown, but it is good enough to enjoy for a while. You can certainly listen to All Alone in the Danger Zone without getting severe radiation poisoning, and that is probably one of the more important indications of a safe bet when it comes to albums.

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