RAM • The Throne Within (Clear/Brown Marbled Vinyl - ltd. 300) • LP

Metal Blade

No band can celebrate its 20th birthday better than with the release of the strongest album of its career. In RAM's case, the self-gift is called The Throne Within, with which the Swedes once again raise the bar as far as classic heavy metal is concerned, even though they have both feet in the here and now in terms of their energy and freshness.

"The record sounds unmistakably like RAM. It contains fast and dragging heavy songs, midtempo numbers and slower ones, is melodic and still sounds dirty. The arrangements seem familiar, but some are unusual," describes founder and guitarist Harry Granroth. "We didn't have a specific goal in mind when writing songs; sometimes that's the case, but it doesn't have to be, and this time we just got together, started writing and just drifted."