Forgotten Heavy Metal Albums -"rock Hell" by Ac/Dc Influenced Finnish Band Gandalf

Finnish metal band Gandalf has one album in their career that I consider to be a forgotten album. That album is the one called Rock Hell. By that title, you might be thinking that this is some kind of a hard rock album. For those of you that think this way, well you are in for a major surprise! Gandalf played death metal that was influenced by hard rock bands such as Australia’s AC/DC.

Vocalist Jari Hurskainen provided shouts so harsh that it was like there was a snarling beast in this band. But even if the vocals turn you off, the music will be more than satisfying! The album is a forgotten metal album because it is one of those albums with memorable songs and it is unique. There are not too many melodic death metal bands that play with a hard rock feel. Gandalf is the only such band that I know since starting to get into the heavy metal genre. We could even classify Gandalf as a forgotten metal band because few people in the heavy metal community will remember them now in 2017. Gandalf disbanded in 2002 because of conflicts with the members inside the band. Their career lasted only 9 years but their last album Rock Hell is an outstanding release!

1. L8X Queen
2. One More for the Dead
3. Morning Sun
4. Human Value Zero
5. The Dragon
6. Geysir
7. Nightderanger
8. Live to Suffer
9. Dead Man’s Hand
10. Castle of the Stars

The opener L8X Queen is about a man telling a story of how some girl that he knew deceived him and played mind games with him. Even though she did look fine and beautiful, her looks were deceiving as he was tricked and conned by her. He gets to a point where he realizes that she won’t spend the rest of her life with him. So many of us have been in relationships where the girl plays games with us instead of being up front and honest. One More for the Dead was the first song I heard from this band and I was hooked pretty much right away. The melodic vocals of “one more for the dead” are more than enough to get you going in the right direction if you sing along with them!

Morning Sun is a good groovy song about the sun bringing not only light to those who need it but it somehow brings hope and faith to those who are feeling lost. We will all die at some point so we might as well enjoy the sun while we can right? Sunshine is a good thing but for some, too much of it is counterproductive. Human Value Zero is a song that is talking about the decline of human values. That’s what can happen when people are drawn to activities that are morally decadent. This is the reason why good parenting is essential if we want to raise children who will grow up to be productive adults and do lots of great things for the world. Sadly, in the eyes of many around the world, the United States has become a decadent society. The song Geysir brings attention to what happened to human beings when they sinned and went against GOD. By the time Adam and Eve realized what they had done, it was too late and they were banished forever and sentenced to die. Life on Earth consists of trials, tribulations, pleasure as well as pain.

The album "Rock Hell" is a good one to listen to with your friends during a party because of the high energy the music provides. In the song Live to Suffer, Jari sounds like Altti Vetelainen of Eternal Tears of Sorrow. The best songs in the album are L8X Queen, One More for the Dead, Morning Star, Human Value Zero, and The Dragon. The other songs are good as well but the first half of the album is the strongest part. Finland added a hard rock style death metal group to their history and even though Gandalf disbanded, this is one of those heavy metal albums that helps us get through days that may be rough.