Communities are wonderous things. The spirit of the town, village or even city where you grew up or live will really remain with you forever. These communities are normally forged around something quite specific, more often than not that would be industry. I look around where I have found myself living in recent years, mining and old steelwork communities. Decimated in the name of 'progression'. Now, whilst I myself may not have been around to witness these harsh and quite sudden changes the effects are there for all to see. There are people who can remember it all so vividly, people who refuse to let go or forgive the wrongs that they and their family and friends suffered. But how can you encapsulate that feeling? How can you portray it to the world? Well, step up HORNDAL. The five piece Sludge and Hardcore outfit hailing from Horndal in Sweden, a rust belt community left to suffer at the hands of capitalism.

With their debut album "Remains", the town's harrowing story was told, and it was told well. But their more recent release, "Lake Drinker", focusses on the issues and 'solutions' that are seemingly at hand in the here and now (if you would like more information, a quick internet search will return some information) and it is again a story of greed, manipulation and ultimately broken promises. The artwork is a beautiful rendition of the title and album theme.

"Rossen", "Horndal's Blodbad" and "The Uprising" really hit the attitude and emotions of the album home instantly. There is so much anger and despair in the vocals that it almost pains me to hear it, an effect that will sit with me for some time. The music is so varied and mesmerising, from cleaning running guitars to some dense and heavy sections that just help to paint the picture that I am seeing. The lyrics are just powerful when you consider what they are actually saying, this open and quite profound assault on the global status quo of capitalistic greed at such a great collateral cost.

A particular track hit home for me, "Ruhr", with the lyrics listing various global towns and cities that have been afflicted by the points raised in "Lake Drinker", Flint, Doncaster, Burnley. It's not really something that I had considered before, but it has just really struck a chord with me, and if that isn't the measure of powerful music then I really don't know what is.

Musically this is an absolutely solid album. Powerful tracking that delivers with every chord and beat. The combination of the intense and talented music, with the thought provoking messages really provides the foundations for a fantastic delivery. I implore every Metal fan out there to listen to "Lake Drinker", take it in and reflect on what you could do tomorrow to make even the smallest change.