martindavey87 X-World/5 is an oddly-named “space metal” band which features members of King Diamond’s band, Hammerfall, and, what caught my attention most, vocalist Nils K. Rue from Pagan’s Mind. Released in 2008, ‘New Universal Order’ is the first, and at this time, only album the band has released, which contradicts the sticker on the cover which shamelessly proclaims them to be “the future of heavy metal”, because as it turns out, despite a roster of talented musicians and one of my favourite singers, this album is pretty uninspiring and boring.

It starts off strong, with early tracks like ‘Cyberchrist’, ‘Man Machine’ and ‘Charge to War’ all sounding pretty good, with nice, simple yet beefy guitar riffs, a solid beat and Rue’s powerful vocals. An electronic, ambient vibe to the music and a fairly plodding tempo helps me understand why they describe themselves as space metal, but as the album progresses, the quality of the tracks starts to diminish greatly, especially as nothing different really seems to reach out. Every track just sounds the same.

The obscurity of this band, along with their unusual name and the imagery of the packaging gave me hope that this would sound pretty decent and unique. But I guess there’s a reason why “the future of heavy metal” never released a follow-up album, which is a huge shame. Still, if you’re into similar groups, and off the top of my head I can only compare this to Arjen Lucassen’s Star One project, then you might enjoy what X-World/5 has to offer.