Bloodred Hourglass

Bloodred Hourglass

Bloodred Hourglass is a Finnish melodic death metal band from Mikkeli. Formed in 2005, the group consists of vocalist Jarkko Koukonen, drummer Jarkko Hyvönen, bassist Jose Moilanen, and guitarists Lauri Silvonen, Joni Lahdenkauppi, and Eero Silvonen. The Band is mostly considered as a melodic death metal group, but their fifth studio album Your Highness showed them moving towards a more modernised approach in their sound, bringing in elements from metalcore and alternative metal as well as the introduction of clean vocals for the first time in their history.

Many of the album reviewers have stated that the band blends into the traditional Swedish Gothenburg melodic death metal sound together with characteristic Finnish metal music melodies. Since the very beginning, all of their songs have been highly guitar driven, including some acoustic guitars as well. Their music is also known for carrying metalcore and alternative metal elements, especially on their latest album Your Highness. The band does not have a dedicated keyboard player, but keyboards play a notable role in most of their songs, varying from orchestrations to sample beats and from modern ambient soundscapes to more classic electronic music sounds.

BRHG's vocal style is characterised by the use of growled vocals or screamed vocals complemented at times by clean vocals on their latest releases. Jarkko is also known for his high-pitched scream technique used as an additional nuance. Guitarist Lauri also does backing vocals on the songs, starting from Where the Oceans Burn. Their lyrics have always had a realism based approach. In early albums, such as Where the Oceans Burn, the lyrics focused more on mankind, environmental issues and other global themes, whereas in later albums, such as Your Highness, lyrical contents are more about personal issues and experiences, thoughts, and other introspective themes.