Diamondog: Kill Me

Third time almost lucky.

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With songs titles such as Hurt, Kill Me and Don’t You Die you’d be forgiven for thinking that you’re heading on a one-way trip into some sort of self-confessional hell.

Fortunately, despite a tendency toward over-emotional melodrama, the reality of this Oslo-based band’s third effort is far more agreeable, with a keen classic rock sensibility – check out the AC/DC flavoured boogie of No Other Name, or Motörhead-like aggression of Like A Diamond, for instance – allied to a punk rock approach and a winning way with a commercial-sounding chorus or two.

Where it comes unstuck is the lack of truly memorable songs – there has to be something more to reward repeated listens, and at the moment it’s just tantalisingly out of reach.

Essi Berelian

Whether it’s magazines, books or online, Essi has been writing about rock ’n’ metal for around thirty years. He has been reviews editor for Classic Rock and Metal Hammer, rock reviews editor for lads mag Front and worked for Kerrang!. He has also written the Rough Guide to Heavy Metal and contributed to the Rough Guide to Rock and Rough Guide Book of Playlists, and the Guinness Book of British Hit Singles (13th edition). Most fun interview? Tenacious D – Jack Black and Kyle Gass – for The Pick of Destiny movie book. An avid record/CD/tape collector, he’s amassed more music than he could ever possibly listen to, which annoys his wife no end.