When I first heard about this project, I thought it was some kind of concept album – or at least an album with a theme. Well, it turns out that this project is masterminded by King Company drummer Mirka Rantanen. Starting out as a solo album by the drummer a few years ago, Rantanen soon changed his mind and went for a more project-like affair instead. With Markanen playing all the drums and taking care of parts of the song-writing, the rest of the album is played by a bunch of his Finish friends, some of them also taking part in the song-writing as well. With different singers – both well-known and not so well-known – and different song-writers, this project runs the risk of sounding like a compilation album but on the other hand, it also might bring in some diversity. The fact that none of the Frontiers usual song-writing and production team is involved is also worth mentioning.
Opener “The Beat” is an uptempo rocker with a big 70’s Classic Rock vibe with a slight nod towards Deep Purple. It features singer Riku Turunen (Enforce, Force Majeure, Exibris), a singer I have been oblivious of until now – and the same can be said about the bands he’s in as well. Turunen is a fine vocalist and the song throws in influences from both Metal and Melodic Rock with a good enough, in-your-face refrain. Good but not great. Leading single “Desperate Cry” features Hardline vocalist Johnny Gioeli, a guy that pops up ever so often everywhere these days. It’s a mid-paced rocker that style-wise comes from early 90’s melodic Hard Rock and a band like recent Hardline isn’t that far away. Grittier moments huddles with slicker melodies and the chorus is hooky as damn, absolutely brilliant. Damn good.
Former Nightwish bassist and sometimes vocalist Marco Hietala takes the mike for the slightly symphonic and pomp-laden “Sheriff Of Ghost Town”, an upbeat and bombastic Hard Rock tune with a smoother and more AOR-laden refrain. It’s a powerful number that sometimes glances at melodic Power Metal but even though it sure has an ok hook, the song never really lifts past decent and it fades too fast from my memory. Leverage singer Kimmo Blom lends his vocal-cords to the pop-friendly AOR-ish “Never” and as always he nails the task with all the glory – great singer indeed. Blom has an edgy voice which takes off some the song’s gloss which betters the tune and the same goes for the grittier guitar-sound which balances off the slick keys involved. It’s a straight-forward number with memorable melodies and a good enough chorus.
On a faster note, Amaranthe singer Elize Ryd takes on the symphonic metal-belter “In Times Of Despair”. It has one foot over the Power Metal threshold for sure, it’s straight ahead, quite heavy with a punchy rhythm and pounding drums with the rough guitars prominent. I’m not sure if they’re going for an Amaranthe vibe here but I’m not an Amaranthe fan which would explain why I find this song only ok at best. Ryd is a great singer though. Pasi Rantanen of Thunderstone is another voice I’m not familiar with at all – and not his band either. However, his raspy does a splendid job on the 70’s laden, Classic Hard Rock stomper “Crossroads”. It come sin a mid-pace, guitar-driven with a raunchy Hammond involved. The verses are a bit more held-back with a bluesy groove while the chorus is catchy without being the least radio-friendly. Good stuff.
“Caught In The Middle” features Danny Vaughn of Tyketto and Waysted fame and just as I expected, we’re given an uptempo, melodic Hard Rock stomper in the time-frame of where the 80’s turned 90’s. It’s American Arena Rock in style but the approach is on the darker side and it’s quite heavy for this kind of genre, it’s rhythmic and chunky with rough guitars and a good, tough beat. The main-melody is strong and the chorus is just made for a guy like Vaughn – melodic, hook-laden and catchy as hell. I really dig this.
The weirdly titled “Plywood Covered Windows And Crappy Shoes” features some really good vocals by one Antti Railio (Celesty), again a guy I have never heard of before. This one contains some early 80’s Dio riffing mixed with smooth melodies and a big 1987 AOR approach. It’s an upbeat number with big pop-hooks, a smooth keyboard inside a colorful soundscape with a distinct and in-your-face vocal-melody. Despite its overlying poppiness and slick arrangements, it never gets cheesy or syrupy – only very direct, memorable and the chorus strikes directly with an intense catchiness. Great stuff and my favorite song on this album.
Swedish big-voice Rick Altzi (Masterplan/Gathering Of Kings) takes tone in the upbeat melodic rocker “Edge Of Love”, a very poppy tune with a big modern Scandinavian AOR vibe, very slick and glossy. It’s quite straight ahead and even though it do throw a hook out, it’s also quite middle-of-the-road and impersonal – and the chorus falls kinda flat as well. If it wasn’t for Altzi’s raspy, high-octane voice the song would fall into oblivion fast. Jarkko Ahola, another dude out of my radar, takes the mike in “Set Me Free”, an uptempo, raunchy Classic Rock stomper with an edgy sound and gritty guitars. The foundation is 70’s Hard Rock, instrumentally, but the melodies and vocal-lines, is more steeped in 80’s Melodic Rock. Ahola is a good singer but the song is too forgettable with a refrain that never lifts.
Tommi “Tuple” Salmela is the singer for “Everafter”, a straight forward yet smooth and poppy Melodic Rock tune with an upbeat groove and big AOR melodies all over. Again, we get a good singer but also again, the song disappears from my memory fast and with another chorus that doesn’t take off, the song fades fast without being bad per se. After a few tunes filed under “filler”, “No Reason” comes for the rescue. Marc Quee (nope, haven’t heard of him either) takes on this 80’s upbeat Melodic Rock stomper with all the glory. On a solid rhythm with melodies that glues themselves to the brain and a catchy, striking chorus that screams of hit-potential, the song is a real winner. That this one’s not released as a single yet is a mystery. Great.
The album closes with “Tears Of The Clown”, an uptempo half-ballad with a throwback nod to the year 1987 and not a far cry from a song like “Is This Love” by Whitesnake. The vocals are handled by one Erik Kraemer from Finish prog-metal rocker Simulacrum who released an album earlier this year that didn’t impress me much. That being said, Kraemer is a brilliant vocalist that translates well into this kind of genre. So, the song might be both sugary and full of slick poppiness and lots of 80’s sounding synthesizers but it’s also very catchy and it’s impossible to get out the brain once it’s there. I’m also a sucker for this kind of song so I’ll give it my thumbs up.
As a whole, I’m afraid this album falls a bit on the wayside. While, all involved performs very competent and all the singers here are damn good, the whole thing feels more like a compilation album where there’s really nothing that holds the songs together. And even though there are some damn good songs here – and I can’t find any songs that are actually crap – there’s also too many fillers, songs that I would have forgotten right off the bat if I hadn’t taken notes while listening to the album. That said, it’s not a bad record and sure, I might enjoy it from time to time but the urge to put it on hasn’t showed up since I first heard it.
5/10
Tracklist:
1. The Beat (feat. Riku Turunen)
2. Desperate Cry (feat. Johnny Gioeli)
3. Sheriff Of Ghost Town (feat. Marco Hietala)
4. Never (feat. Kimmo Blom)
5. In Times Of Despair (feat. Elize Ryd)
6. Crossroads (feat. Pasi Rantanen)
7. Caught In The Middle (feat. Danny Vaughn)
8. Plywood Covered Windows And Crappy Shoes (feat. Antti Railio)
9. Edge Of Love (feat. Rick Altzi)
10. Set Me Free (feat. Jarkko Ahola)
11. Everafter (feat. Tommi “Tuple” Salmela)
12. No Reason (feat Marc Quee)
13. Tears Of The Clown (feat. Erik Kraemer)
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