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\u00a0<\/span>Last year’s solo release by Bjorn Stigsson was a ripple in the waters, but a new album by XT is a full return of Swedish metal royalty. Guitarist Bjorn Stigsson is best known for his pioneering christian metal band Leviticus in the 80’s. Following his classic solo release Together With Friends<\/span> and Leviticus’ end, Stigsson regrouped with Motherlode mainman Sonny Larsson and started a new band XT during the 90’s. Always melodic, XT evolved over 3 albums from a classically influenced, very commercial debut to a satisfyingly heavier approach on Taxfree<\/span> and Extended Empire<\/span>. For this XT reunion Stigsson and Larsson are joined by 2 Jerusalem alums and Mick Nordstrom of Modest Attraction, who also played drums on Taxfree<\/span>– making it a true super group. So the question is- can these aging rockers still pull off a metal album with teeth, especially since Bjorn’s solo cd of last year is much mellower than his first? The answer is a resounding yes. Saved by the Blood<\/span> is best described as melodic hard rock, slower with a heavy, almost menacing guitar tone and keys that display Deep Purple, Whitesnake influences, but Sonny’s distinctive voice still shines through. With age, any subtlety regarding lyrics has been discarded for a straightforward and bold evangelistic message, yet remains tasteful. The last 3 songs “The Last Supper,” “The Crucifixion,” and “The Resurrection” form a powerful medley of the message of Christ’s death for our salvation, much like Bloodgood’s much loved “Crucify”and “He’s the Messiah” from Detonation<\/span>. The album stays in hard rock mode throughout, with the exception of the ballad “All of Your Love,” and there’s some tasty guitar solos on “What’s Going On.” Do yourself a favor and pick up this import- the 4th XT cd (also in vinyl)- only a 22 year wait! 4 stars out of 5 (Talking Music) <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0Last year’s solo release by Bjorn Stigsson was a ripple in the waters, but a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":1724,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1020],"tags":[886,92,442,889,888,887,91],"class_list":["post-3389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-review","tag-bjorn-stigsson","tag-jerusalem-d12","tag-leviticus-d74","tag-modest-attraction","tag-motherlode-d77","tag-sonny-larsson","tag-xt-d13"],"yoast_head":"\n