Being a member of now defunct massively iconified Swedish metallers In Solitude alone gives HENRIK PALM much praise and kudos (he is and was active in many other bands too). And it is likable that he not even tries to ride the "sister" horse. He also puttered around in Ghost, yet no incidence on Poverty Metal either. And this is good news.
Poverty Metal is the second output for the Swedish post-punk, heavy-pop sonic contortionist and will make it not easy for traditional metal fans. With the Voivodian Concrete Antichrist they would probably still get along, but altogether Poverty Metal is hardly to categorize. Given Demon for example first leads up the garden path with sludgy Doom guitars just to jump over to danceable Queens Of The Stone Age patterns a bit later. The opening track Bully is quite bulky and off-key and the following Sugar reminds first of David Bowie due to its distinct piano tunes and then turns into a highly dramatic outburst. Black Sabbath gets cited here and there but generally Poverty Metal is kind of a freestyle record where you suddenly can find yourself in Interpol or Franz Ferdinand kind of spheres.
I guess, HENRIK PALM has a huge record collection he scoops inspiration from, not only from mentioned millennium Alternative but also a lot from 70s slough and 80s glitter. All in all it is not really homogenous, there is no red thread going through the album and sometimes HENRIK PALM overshoots when tracks sound too fractional.
Poverty Metal is nonetheless an entertaining record. You can literally hear the fun HENRIK PALM had to write this piece. I wish more young bands would learn a lesson and look a bit farer beyond their noses musically, to make their records more interesting and unpredictable. HENRIK PALM made it anyway! Poverty Metal is quite short but has a lot to offer.