Album review : FIGHTER V – Deja Vu

April 6th, 2026 by brianmc

Frontiers Music [Release date : 10.04.26]

We couldn’t help thinking that we’d heard this album somewhere before. Maybe it’ll come back to us.

Deja Vu is the third album from Swiss melodic rock band, Fighter V. Emmo Acar (v), Lobe Valentin (g), Lucian Egloff (d) and Roman Stadler (b). First on Frontiers.

It stays close to a well worn, eighties’ time stamped melodic rock matrix, revisiting formative influences as inspiration to push forward.

But it’s immediately noticeable that, at times, singer / producer Emmo Acar allows his gravelly vocals too much freedom, his frenzied theatrics all but spoiling some excellent rock songs – ‘Foolish Heart’ and ‘Stand By Your Side’ – to name but two.

And yet, these tracks sit side by side with a couple of the album standouts. ‘Made For A Heartache’ dips its toes in and out of a seamless, Steely Dan like merge of AOR and Westcoast Rock. And on the raucous ‘Victory’, Acar resists the temptation to indulge his love of vocal histrionics, and the song is all the better for it.

That said, the best stuff is on “side 2”.

The Coverdale-ish ‘Hold The Time’ and the mid tempo ‘All Your Love’ are big surprises. In both cases, the passion burns brightly. With the 80s being the moment and melodic rock being the focus.

Both songs are pages torn from the AOR playbook, creating a yearning nostalgia… deja vu all over again. ***

Review by Brian McGowan

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

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Power Plays w/c 30 March 2026

EVA UNDER FIRE Villainous (Better Noise Music)
HOKKA Blackbird (Nuclear Blast Records)
CELLDWELLER Elaleth (FiXT)
DAEDRIC Iridescent Wings (FiXT)
ARKADO Phoenix And Stardust (Pride & Joy Music)
THE DAVIDSON TRIO Disillusion (indie)
S8NT ELEKTRIC Catacombs (Long Branch Records)

Featured Albums w/c 16 March 2026

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Singer Songwriter)

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