BLOODBOUND – Rise of the Dragon Empire (March 22, 2019)

Bloodbound can be considered as one of the hardest working bands of the metal scene. Since Fredrik Bergh and Tomas Olsson toyed around with ideas of founding a new band in 2004, Bloodbound have secured an impressive fan following which increased steadily and significantly since vocalist Patrik J. Selleby joined the band in 2010 (and followed in the footsteps of Michael Bormann and Urban Breed). 2011’s Unholy Cross was their fourth studio album, and first for AFM. Only biggest optimists (and the band itself) would have imagined where Bloodbound’s place in the scene would be today: their 2016 release War Of Dragons was their first to achieve impressive chart results in numerous countries, the band played a successful European headlining tour and a number of festivals. The years of consistency, delivering quality releases over and over again, as well as making new fans on tours with Sabaton, U.D.O. and HammerFall paid off. In the process, Bloodbound have played concerts in 25 countries.

At the end of 2018, Bloodbound once again hit the studio to record the upcoming 8th album. They once again teamed up with renowned engineer Jonas Kjellgren who has been responsible for the mix on the last four Bloodbound albums. While the 2012 release In The Name Of Metal was still a kind of celebration of the classic metal the band grew up on, the following album, Stormborn saw Bloodbound head into a more bombastic, orchestral and symphonic direction – while still maintaining (and even restore) their preference for solid, hymn-like tracks.

Album #8 is called Rise Of The Dragon Empire and music-wise it is a continuation of the latest two albums War Of Dragons and Stormborn, but this time a clearer Nordic folk music influence is mixed in with the typical trademark sound of Bloodbound. The band continues to develop with every album they make and with Rise Of The Dragon Empire, they have taken their sound to a new level. During the Spring of 2019, Bloodbound will once again head out on a headlining tour that will take them to many countries across Europe. Bloodbound will bring label mates Dynazty and Manimal with them as special guests on the Tour Of The Dragon Empire – a huge, exciting “Swedish Invasion” is guaranteed for all fans of Scandinavian metal.