Review of the Album Am I Blood by Finnish Thrash Metal Band Am I Blood

Am I Blood is the name of a heavy and thrash metal band from Finland which goes back to 1992 when they were under the name of St. Mucus. Their debut album which was at first under the name of Natural Mutation in 1995 was released when the band was named St. Mucus. Therefore, their self-titled album Am I Blood released in 1997 is the band’s second studio album. Stylistically, the style is still heavy metal to a certain extent but it still has progressive influences due to the vocals. Am I Blood is a band that has often times been mistaken for Metallica because their music is influenced by that band and also guitarist and vocalist Janne Kerminen sounds like James Hetfield. So, I like to think of vocalist Janne Kerminen as a mix of James Hetfield and Pasi Koskinen. Whether it is ironic or not, Pasi Koskinen was the original vocalist for the band now known as Am I Blood. The band parted ways with Koskinen just one month before the recording of their debut album Natural Mutation.

The very name of this band may cause some of you to ditch the music of this band but in spite of the band’s name, these guys do offer heavy metal that is somewhat melodic so this is not your standard, cheesy metal music. In spite of the attempt of these Finnish guys to be creative, some of the songs such as No Friend are a little uninspiring. However, the mid-section interlude that repeats is a good way to lessen the boring aspect of the song if we can call it that. “Lust’ is a song that has some bass lines in it but again, the song lacks that “wow” factor that you hear in so many Finnish bands. We might as well do something differently for this review if we have not done so already. We might as well elaborate on the cons and weaknesses of this album. They include lyrics that sometimes don’t fit in with the context of some of the songs. What got me into this band many years ago was the song called Shadows With the Colors which is a very energetic thrash metal song but on this second album of the band Am I Blood there are good moments on it such as the first three songs but some of it is a little boring and or uninspiring.

Yes, this self-titled album is a hybrid of heavy and thrash metal but it is not overwhelming or scary. It does not feel like it is rough to get through because of the lyrics or even the style as well. Immaterial is a song that offers us a rather pleasant experience in spite of the heavy guitar play and this is due to its acoustic start in the beginning. However, when I first began listening to this album, it sounded kind of weird in the guitar work such as the song Battlefreak. This album may be one of the few exceptions of a Finnish metal band in which the riffing isn’t spectacular or awesome. Bur even so, it is still a rather decent listen for the for the avid fan of the genre. “Disgrace” is a song that has a nice interlude section before the song returns to the main section. “Cannot Feel” is a song about someone that goes through life feeling certain feelings and not able to feel other feelings such as not being able to feel that is freezing. Things You Hate is a song that starts off in such a way that the first few notes plucked remind you of the song Of Wolf and Man. There is the Metallica influence at the start so the analysis by others that these guys sound like Metallica is a reasonable conclusion. Then from what seems like nowhere, the song slows down and becomes more melodic as that section reminds me of a passage that we would hear years later on the Death Magnetic album. Overall, Am I Blood is a decent album yet at the best I would rate it as average as there is not enough musical innovation on this album for it to be an elite one. Even so, if a Finnish metal band has a weaker album out it still manages to be somewhat good.