This EP follows a 2016 demo from this Swedish band, who were formed in 2016.

The conventional nature of the heavy rock-metal riff is broken up by the bizarre and manic vocals. The riff goes round and round without energy. “The Sacrament” wasn’t the strongest opener I’ve ever heard. “Final Judgement” then heads down a galloping melodic thrash route. Listening to this, I am reminded stylistically of Tribulation. For metal, it’s not nasty or powerful and doesn’t really have an edge to it. It has a few twists and turns, but nothing earth-shattering as it just follows a languid course. The vocals have personality, I suppose, but they’re unpleasant to listen to and at odds with the music in that one side screams convention while the others suggests pain and abnormality. Cacophonous wouldn’t be too harsh a word for these vocals. Meanwhile the instrumentals are generally harmless and nice.

“Djävulsmaskopi” is an instrumental, so we’re spared the pain. It’s like rock night somewhere in Sweden. If I wasn’t listening to it for reviewing, it would be background music. There is a transformation into a darker world for the last 90 seconds or so but it’s as if the brakes are on. This is all too deliberate, and I wasn’t getting any feeling out of it. “Sinners Soul” has a bit more energy but it’s still underplayed. Like the previous track, it goes into darker mode before cranking up, but changing tempo wasn’t ever going to make this into something great. I read this song as somehow in connection with Metallica and Iron Maiden, but that was the publicity, and where those two bands might be regarded as Premier League, Commando would be struggling to get out of League 4. The final track “Burn the Sky” is a dark thrashy epic kind of thing, but fails to rise to any occasion that I could recognise.

I’m sure that Commando could have a positive live presence, but this recorded work seemed to have the power or energy sucked out of it or at least was inhibited. I found the whole thing devoid of imagination. This, I understand, is the prelude to a full album. I hope that Commando raid the ideas box before then, sort out the instrumental-vocal disparity and appoint someone who knows how to create the sound of a live setting.

(4/10 Andrew Doherty)

https://www.facebook.com/Commando-SWE-225600961156584