Frontiers [Release date : 17.01.25]
By the numbers – fourth album from Swedish Melodic hard rock band, Wildness, third with “new” vocalist, Erik Forsberg, and second on the Frontiers label.
The band was formed by drummer, Erik Modin in 2014, recruiting guitarists Adam Holmström and Pontus Sköld, and later adding bass man Marcus Sjösund to their ranks.
The band follow the instructions in their well thumbed melodic rock primer pretty closely.
Big chords, big choruses, anthemic hooks, passionate delivery. In the right hands these ingredients can result in a decent album. But there’s an uneveness to the songwriting and little variation in tempo as we move from song to song, like they haven’t noticed the lights have changed.
Lyrically too, the album is something of a disappointment. We’re not expecting Pulitzer Prize winning stuff, but ‘Wings Of Fire’, ‘Broken Heart’, ‘Stand Your Ground’ are typically unimaginative song titles.
It’s a delight to note that the title track is head and shoulders above the rest. The spiralling axe intro ignites some genuine fire at last.
In a way, it’s a fanfare, a moment of triumph, as Forsberg reaches for something heroic. It’s a big, booming melodic hard rock song, one we might have expected from present day Stryper.
The album finds further redemption in two other songs, ‘Poison Ivy’ (not that one) and ‘Eye Of The Storm’ (and not that one either).
Both have the quickening heartbeat of all great melodic rock. All the elements, wiry, hard rock guitars, radiant bursts of high impact harmonies and compelling vocals are there.
More like this the next time please. ***
Review by Brian McGowan
Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK
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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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