Sweden produces many Melodic Death Metal acts and has done so ever since the outbreak of the genre in Gothenburg in the 1990's. However, the debut EP from BLUTFELD, titled "Kingdom of Mine", has a slight twist. They dub themselves "Epic Death Metal", creating a fanfare in their brand of Death Metal. That is what is introduced with the intro track "Fanfare", and the theme continues throughout. However slightly, and I emphasize when I say "slightly", unique this idea is, it eventually comes short of impacttful due to poor execution and writing.

The largest issue is over repetition. The previously mentioned intro track is almost two minutes of Medieval Times featuring electric guitar, and the guitar is underwhelming at best. "New Dawn" is composed of the same two ideas for almost three minutes while the last minute is something new. It is a very mid-paced song with no progression, even if progression is expected. Not even after the guitar kicks in a few high notes (two separate times) does it progress, as a solo does not break out. It just keeps dragging on.

"Natural Born Leader" and "Victory or Defeat" do offer differentiation in sequences, the latter of the two being much more generous in terms of songwriting, but even the better songs fall short of impressive. Not to mention, the instrumental "Ritual" is a complete waste of three minutes, droning on with the same melodies and boring passages. "Victory or Defeat" is particularly special because it seems like it is too repetitive until it reaches a moment of atmosphere followed by a nicely transitioned-into guitar solo. This solo is not over very quickly, as the chorus hits, and the solo continues while the vocalist sings the nicely spaced lyrics. It is a very effective moment in the music, and it redeems the first couple of minutes of the track. This is a true and honest sign of potential.

One flaw that is annoyingly present on this album is the terribly sustained notes. Without fail, if there is any sort of note that is meant to be sustained it pathetically falters off into nothing. It is unfulfilling and underwhelming even in the slightest of ways. I don't know if this is a problem with poor production or poor musicianship, but these guys seem pretty capable instrumentally, so I have no idea what to label it as. It seems nitpick-y, but it is just too noticeable.

While BLUTFELD have very noteworthy songwriting on half of one track, the rest of the EP has nothing to offer. This band is very fresh, and it is too early to deem them as terrible, but for now, they aren't very good. A lot of improvement is needed for this sound.