Petri Lindström is the founder, bassist and creative force behind Progeland, whose debut release ‘Gate to Fulfilled Fantasies’ was released in 2014 to critical acclaim. He was also a member of Corvus Stone, and American prog metal band Voice of The Enslaved. This project has been put together as a way for Petri to work on music that may not be fitting for his other bands, and for his debut release he said that he “wanted to pay tribute to what I consider to be one of the world’s greatest rock bands. I have been influenced by the music of Black Sabbath since I first heard them at a very young age, so it was with this in mind, that I would record my first solo album as a tribute to Black Sabbath. However this is not an album of Black Sabbath cover songs, it is simply a tribute to a band that created a sound that inspired me as a musician.”
While this is a fairly interesting release, where Petri allows himself to provide, bass, guitar and keyboards and brings in guests (most notably singer Blake Carpenter, who he works with in other bands), it is never really anything more than that. There are a great deal of bands out there who have been influenced by Sabbath and have then taken the music into different areas, but this almost feels like “doom lite”. While Sabbath are an obvious starting point it is almost as if Petri really didn’t know where he wanted to go with it and the result is an album which is pleasant enough without ever being essential. There are times when it is just far too melodic for what he is trying to do, and the layered guitars just don’t contain the menace and power one would expect from someone providing a tribute to a metallic monster. The bass is also significant in the way that it just isn’t heavy or powerful enough – although Iommi will always be viewed by many as being the musical mastermind behind the band, if it wasn’t for Geezer’s driving bass they would never have had half the impact. The result is an album that is fairly pleasant and fairly enjoyable, but far from essential.
Rating: 6/10
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/Petri-Lindstr%C3%B6m-Project-833180153417036/
https://mrrmusic.com/
