Album review : SUNSTORM – Restless Fight

Frontiers [Release date: 22.11.24]

Restless Fight is Sunstorm’s third with Ronnie Romero up front, this time with a few more “progressive” musicians alongside.

Influential Italian guitarist/ songwriter Aldo Lonobile – and currently Frontiers’ head of A&R for Europe – has produced, with Andrea (DGM) Arcangeli on bass, Alfonso (Virtual Symmetry) Mocerino on drums, and the prodigiously talented Antonio Agate on keyboards.

We noted this about the last album, Brothers In Arms (2022), again with a different line up: “While the polished hard rock formula is similar, it’s not the same. It’s ramped up, and more melodic in places.”

Restless Fight is not a lot different. It’s the distinctly melodic moments that stand out.

In the face of some less than great songs, Sunstorm leans hard into its professionalism and musicianship here, and just about pulls it off.

That’s particularly true of ‘I’ll Stand For You’. The evocative keyboard parts give it more of a melodic hard rock feel, with AOR overtones. A frantic pace seldom lessens. Romero sounds at home. Agate is the tastemaker, with producer Lonobile pushing him up front and centre. Unarguably, the track is a compelling calling card for the album.

You could include ‘Hope’s Last Stand’ in the same breath.

One part metal, one part hard rock, one part kitchen sink, this track rises above others. Romero truly makes this song his own. The sentiments are not new, but they avoid recycling the bland and unadventurous approach of some of the material here. Romero too rises to the occasion, amplifying his profile as a vocalist who can wring emotion from most anything.

‘Without You’ is a ballad that should have come earlier. Agate’s faux strings lighten the mood, romanticising Romero’s strong lyrical moments, with Alfonso Mocerino lacing some neatly syncopated rhythms through the chorus. It’s the most affecting arrangement so far.

On the other side of the same coin, ‘Restless Fight’, the track, is a gearshifting race to the finishing line. Romero’s agile vocals grab the song by the scruff of the neck and carry it home. Cool tune.

Maybe it’s time to settle into a more consistent line up. There’s something here, it just needs a few more nudges to fall into place. ***

Review by Brian McGowan

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Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024

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