review by: Roberto Martinelli

And so we find ourselves in the swamps again. This Finnish quintet have returned, not even one year after putting out their debut album, to give us this fantastic piece of melodic metal.

I'm going to try my best to compare Kalmah with country mates Children of Bodom as little as I can. It's just so hard. Suffice to say that if melody from blazing, cascading notes, dizzying guitar solos and noodly keyboard fills are your thing, then you'll eat this album up.

Like that other band from Finland, Kalmah's style shares more than a few elements with power metal, but is less so overall than the boys' from Lake Bodom. It's also much faster overall. While the Children seem to have abandoned the blast beat after their second album, Kalmah embraces it and uses it to thrilling effect.

And while this style is really only being copied, Kalmah has outdone the latest output from the masters. The benchmark for this style will always be Children of Bodom's Hatebreeder, They Will Return is clearly the next best thing.

Maelstrom writer Steppenvvolf was all enthusiastic about this band when it released its first album. I can see why. Now I need to check out the first one for myself. You may be turned off by this band's lackluster packaging (both covers look practically identical), but the content will put a big smile on your face. Totally essential for Children of Bodom fans, and pretty highly recommended for everyone else, as well.