TME: Worlds Collide

Andreas Hedlund, frontman of Sweden’s Vintersorg, currently fronts seven bands, and his partner on guitar Mattias Marklund can’t understand why he should get all the spotlight, so he went off and formed his own supergroup, TME. It’s something of a relief to find their debut sounds nothing like the folk-metal Marklund is accustomed to: Worlds Collide is a thrashing, angry beast of an album, stampeding and bristling with energy that is maintained throughout — no easy feat. The group steers clear of any modern metalcore influences in favour of a straight, no-nonsense approach, with technical riffs that thrum and pummel like shards of glass, Benny Hagglund wielding sticks that blend relentless precision and speed, and vocalist Andreas Stenlund’s unbelievably harsh and hostile snarl. Best of all, each element molds into place with remarkable cohesion for a supergroup — even though their ego gets the better of them on one song named after themselves (“TME”). It’s not the most original metal CD you could ask for by a long stretch (they don’t have the distinct identity of Vintersorg), but Worlds Collide is nothing short of excellent, horn-raising brutality.