Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

If you ever needed more substantial proof that the lands that make up Scandinavia are the rightful kings and queens of Metal in the last few years, then you need look no further than the excellent Swedish group, Spiders and their latest album Shake Electric.

The tangled, layered web of Ann-Sofie Hoyles dominating vocals playfully tease the listener with a fascinating intrigue, a perspective and a look into the world in which for many have left behind by the time they hit their 30s or when the fickle finger of parental responsibility comes crashing into view like a ten tonne truck out of control on the M6.

The inspired feel of a grateful and prolific past takes the same route as the out of control vehicle, but with an abundance of greats at the wheel in which Ann-Sofie Hoyles, John Hoyles, Olle Griphammer and Richard Harryson emulate and surpass with surprising comfortable ease. The Scandinavian sound is distinctive, replete and wonderfully exhausting, from start to finish it has you in its firm grip and by the end of it all, the feeling of being the silver sphere in a pinball machine, firmly rocked and slammed with great music all around you, is one that will never escape your deepest thoughts.

The groove of Mad Dog sets the scene, the web is being built around you and you either don’t care or don’t notice as the beast wraps the tight silk lovingly around you. Bleeding Heart and Only Your Skin continue the process with an emotional pulse that stimulates the nerves and like a spider plucking on a solitary line of web, it sings like an eight legged Siren calling you to your musical deliverance.

With other tracks, such as Control, Give Up This Fight and the brutally good Hard Times, providing the refreshing honesty of the Northern European nations, it’s not shocking to find that yet again Scandinavia has really conquered the genre during the current year and Spiders have set it towards its liberation.

Ian D. Hall