Netherbird was founded in Stockholm, Sweden, 2004. This band incorporated influences of heavy metal, black metal and doom metal into their music. Over the years, a number of guest musicians have contributed to the two EPs and their latest CD. The Ghost Collector, Netherbird’s aforementioned latest opus, is what we’re going to check out.

Black metal is what I’d classify The Ghost Collector as. The band has a good sense for melody, something that they blend in with the music very well. Although melodic, the tracks never get too close to becoming a Cradle Of Filth. Commercialism isn’t what these Swedes are looking for. ‘The Beauty Of Bones’ is a straightforward black metal track with a great melodic twist near the end, much like Cradle’s first effort, The Principle Of Evil Made Flesh.

The Doom metal part largely consists of the addition of deep grunts to the screeching guitars and chanting choirs. The great thing about this album is, that even though much of the song writing comes from black metal influences, there are dramatic, long-drawn breaks in tracks; both vocally and musically. The occasional guitar lead / solo makes for an interesting blend that not many extreme metal bands know: the tranquillity of heavy metal mixed with the ferocity of black.

For all lovers of melodic black metal, The Ghost Collector will very likely appeal to you a lot. With other musical influences woven in between, Netherbird shows off what Sweden has become famous for since the Gothenburg-era; mixing styles of great metal.