Singles review: DREAMS OF AVALON – Under the Gun & Young Wild Hearts

Two teaser tracks released over the last month by Joachim (Astral Doors) Nordlund’s Melodic Rock band, Dreams Of Avalon. The full album “Beyond The Dream” is due for release at the end of August, by the Metalville label.

It’s unadulterated Eighties’ Melodic Rock, highly derivative in construction and delivery. You’ll hear strong echoes of Bon Jovi and maybe even Blue Tears in the phrasing and melodies. Nothing wrong with that. If you’re going to ‘borrow’, borrow from the best. You can’t beat a bit of “running like the wind” or “hearts beating like a drum” to get you going. It’s the stuff that filled arenas and sold out lighter shops.

Both tracks have an unstoppable, rolling momentum, with ‘Young Wild Hearts’ evoking the FM Radio tones of Gregg Fulkerson’s ‘Rockin With The Radio’, and the punchier, more orchestrated ‘Under The Gun’ slowly and less deliberately revealing the sonic signature of Astral Doors. We should hope that the merged marriage of AOR and Symphonic Rock on the latter track is emblematic of the album as a whole.

It works, like…er, a dream. ****

Review by Brian McGowan

Hear them both here and here

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Power Plays w/c 7 April 2025

SEVEN BLOOD To The Unknown (indie)
FROM FALL TO SPRING Incomplete (Arising Empire)
POP EVIL Side Effects (MNRK Heavy)
ERJA LYYTINEN Abyss (Tuohi Records)
SKY VALLEY MISTRESS Too Many Ghosts (New Heavy Sounds)

Featured Albums w/c 7 April 2025

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2024 (Singer Songwriter)

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