Northern Kings - Reborn

What happens when you put four Finnish rock vocalists together and they decide to record an album of covers... well obviously they go one bigger than that and make it a symphonic metal covers album of course!

You've got representation of some of Finland's biggest bands here with Marco Hietela (Nightwish) and Tony Kakko (Sonata Arctica), and a collection of songs that make you double take simply for the variety, and the fact that there are some huge songs here, songs which are going to have to be damn near perfect not to sound like a bad rip off.

Trepidation no doubt awaits you when you fire this up, and the album starts how it means to go on with Journey's 'Don't Stop Believing', and by the time you're done with that, your going to be a believer. This really is a special album, not just by the talent of those involved, but because they've challenged themselves with songs we all know, and not just done them well, but done them justice.

The highlight of the album certainly could be 'Don't Stop Be Believing' but for me it has to be the incredibly dark and invasive - and slowed right down - cover of Billy Idol's 'Rebel Yell'. I never realised that this song could actually sound sinister, but if I had a hat, I might be eating it right now. This destroys the original, buries it, lets it decompose, and this is what your left with.

It's disturbing! It's awesome!

The Northern Kings are gonna take your preconceptions, and throw them around till you don't know which way is up!