Let’s get something straight right off the bat: this new Warmen album, Band of Brothers, isn’t particularly remarkable. It comes up wanting both on its own and in the context of 2023’s decently entertaining Here for None. And yet, it’s had me thinking about the band quite a bit over the last several weeks: about their unconventional sonic trajectory over the years and, in light of that, how to even properly evaluate “remarkable” or “lackluster” — or, if you’re a pud, “good” or “bad” — where they’re concerned. So while this is, technically, an album review, it’s also gonna be a bit of a thought exercise. Care to join in?

Warmen was founded by keyboardist Janne Wirman in 1999 as a complement to his then-main gig in Children of Bodom. Initially, Wirman focused more on melodic and neoclassical elements in his sorta-namesake side project, with both songwriting and wide-ranging guest performances — Timo Kotipelto! Kimberly Goss! — that shunted the more aggressive tendencies of his main gig to the backseat and focused more on colorful, power metal-esque fare.

But then, in 2019, Children of Bodom broke up. A year later, founder Alexi Laiho passed away. I can’t imagine how these events must have affected Wirman, the person, but when Warmen, the band, returned a few years later… it was hard to miss how much had changed. They’d ditched the guest performances. They’d hired Ensiferum’s Petri Lindroos to handle the (now, all-harsh) vocals. And with Here for None, they’d put out an album that sounded… pretty much like classic Bodom! Hyper-melodicism and harsh vocals. Keys and guitars mirroring each other’s leads. A bit retready? Sure! But, you know… still fun stuff! It may not have been a world changer, but it was at least as good as anything from Are You Dead Yet? onward.

So it’s a bit unfortunate that Band of Brothers is… a bit more reminiscent of the “Are You Dead Yet? onward” years. The all-important balance between melody and aggression — often achieved by treating riffs and keys as a single, unified, instrumental force — has dissolved. Far too often throughout the album, Wirman’s keys operate separately and independently from the guitars, leaving the band’s axemen (Lindroos and Wirman’s brother, Antti) to dominate the proceedings. The sonic dynamism’s gone, in other words, and what we end up with is merely another riff-dependent melodeath album. And In 2025 — some 30+ years after the subgenre’s arguable peak — it’s far more difficult for such an album to truly stand out.

And to be fair, Band of Brothers doesn’t completely fail to do so. The early album track, “When Doves Cry Blood,” pulls out one of the album’s catchiest hooks to overcome what’s otherwise a middling chug-fest. Similarly, cuts like “Nine Lives” and “Untouched” carry refrains catchy enough to counteract mid-tier riffage and an odd, start-stop compositional feel, respectively. Lindroos continues to do… fine, on vocals, despite the lingering sense that this material isn’t particularly challenging him.

Sadly, though, the album all-too-often falls victim to its own, self-imposed sonic disadvantage. Without their onboard melodic elements working in tandem, the band sets its ceiling at “fine” and only “fine.” An increased focus on their riffy, aggressive side only shows us that there’s not enough to that side to carry an entire album. Oh well.

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But let’s zoom out a bit and consider this more broadly: in light of Warmen’s varied career and trajectory thus far, how upset should we really be that Band of Brothers comes up short? I’m struggling to lose too much sleep over it in the end, because… this “Bodom revival” era of the band feels so much less compelling than what came before it.

In theory, a guy with Wirman’s background trying his hand at more traditional, power metal sounds is far more interesting to me than simply going through the same old motions. It was fun to ponder what kinds of new flavors he might bring to a different sonic template! Sure, far too many Warmen tunes from that era did far too much, erm… technically-proficient jogging-in-place… but the dude was at least trying something new and different. The ambition at least somewhat negated the muddled execution.

Wirman, Lindroos and Co. doing, effectively, a “Bodom 2.0” was always going to be a safer play. Here for None might have been pretty fun, but DUH, that kind of thing was always going to be. It sort of feels like a lesser achievement in retrospect, given the attempts at actual boundary-pushing from Wirman that preceded it. And now, even “pretty fun” seems to have eluded the band, so… where does that leave us?

I dunno what the answer is. But I’m pretty sure it’s not Band of Brothers.

Keep it heavy,
—Dan

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Band of Brothers is available now via Reaper Entertainment. For more information on Warmen, visit the band’s Facebook page.