Frontiers [Release date : 13.10.23]

Melodic Hard Rock’s European union of British vocalist, Lee (Shy/Sweet) Small and Swedish Guitarist Martin (Gypsy Rose/Phenomena) Kronlund looks like being a huge success.

Small’s voice is the kind of thing which prompts awe not only at his range, but his ability to dig into the emotion of the moment. It’s called soul.

A hard rock singer with soul and range is a rarity. Listen to him on the album’s standouts ‘It’s Too Late’ and ‘Servant’. His vocals cords are apparently made from the same muscle and blood as admirer, Glenn Hughes. The emotional surge of ‘Darkest Of Days’ comes straight from the maestro’s post Addiction years.

And like Hughes, his voice sounds authoritative whether you adjust the volume up to 11 or down to a whisper.

The songwriters, Kronlund, Small and keyboard player, Anders Skoog have stitched together a bunch of songs that sound scooped up from seventies rock at its peak.

The band’s music hits hard and heavy, every track a satisfying, blood pumping standoff between axe, voice and Hammond. ‘Still Alive’ and ‘Down Below’, taut, tense and unshowy, are full of neat gearshifts as the band’s cleverly calculated riffs lockstep behind Lee’s rasp.

The arrangements are precision tooled, with every piece oiled up, friction free and rocking hard, and there’s a real intensity to the band’s music, maintained all the way through the album, from sensual ballad ‘Stay The Night’ to the breathless ‘Stranger’, each knocking at the door of legacy bands like Deep Purple, Whitesnake and Rainbow.

A band to watch. We should hope they stay together. ****

Review by Brian McGowan

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