Album review: SOCIAL DISORDER – Love 2 Be Hated

AFM Records [Release date 18.6.21]

Social Disorder is not just another punk rock band, in fact despite its misleading name (and album title), it’s not a punk rock band at all. Love 2 Be Hated is pretty cool melodic metal, hard in places, softly softly where it needs to be.

Its founder member and principal songwriter is Anders “LA” Ronnblom, who does the same job for Killer Bee, a ten album rock band, hugely popular in Scandinavia, with stuff produced by Europe’s Kee Marcello, no less.

He’s joined here by several US and European musicians, the better known being Tracii (LA) Guns and Rudy (Quiet Riot/Whitesnake) Sarzo. So clearly there’s a hard rock element at work all through Love 2 Be Hated.

And right on cue, opener ‘Windy Road’, avers to rock balladry rather than metal. A cracking song if a little out of place musically, though the lyrics clearly relate to the mental and indeed physical turmoil Ronnblom suffered in his personal life, before coming out the other side. It’s a theme he returns to time and again.

Musically, the heavier stuff comes early on. The next two tracks are neo classical metal, straight out of the Rainbow/Malmsteen User Manual. ‘Dreaming’ reaches escape velocity quickly, throwing off bits of Priest and Maiden as the twin guitars re-enter earth’s orbit toward the end of the track, while the less flamboyant ‘Scars’ uses up less metal energy, settling for more of an aggressive, hard working groove.

‘Sail Away’, ‘Out Of Love’, and maybe ‘Down On My Knees’ mine a rich vein of bluesy rock, tapping into the supercharged melodrama of a Whitesnake or a Thin Lizzy. Ronnblom’s lyrics again light up the music as he comes to terms with the past and looks ahead to the future. And it looks bright… you might just see Ronnblom’s name gain wider recognition in the months ahead, crossing many borders on its way. ***1/2

Review by Brian McGowan

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