To me, Swedish Metal band Sparzanza is a new an acquaintance, but apparently they started out in 1996, released their first album in 2001 and this is their fifth album. But this is the first one I have heard and therefore I don’t have anything else to compare this with. This much can I say, I usually don’t like this kind of modern metal, but this album is actually really good. The problem is that the world is full of metal bands like Sparzanza that all sound the same and Sparzanza’s sound isn’t orginal by any means, which, unfortunately, places them as one band among all the others. But originality isn’t everything. In fact, originality is overrated. Good songs are what matters and in my book, there are only two kinds of bands. Good ones and bad ones and Sparzanza belongs to the first category.
The sound on the album is heavy enough for metal heads and slick enough to get airplay and they would probably fit the mold of American rock radio like a glove. Singer Fredrik Weileby sometimes sings and sometimes scream and he does both well and the clean / scream vocals never gets annoying at all. Opener ”Temple Of The Red Pigs” is brilliant, hard metal but still catchy, single ”Follow Me”, a ballad, has gotten plenty of air play on Swedish rock radio and rightfully so, because it’s a great song with a big hit feel. ”Phoenix Down” is also very catchy and should be chosen as the next single and ”Devil’s Rain” is a great hard rock song that is both angry and groovy. On the down side, the album is a bit uneven at times and even though it doesn’t contain any bad songs, there is a few that never really catches my attention. Still, the album is totally worth checking out if metal is your thing. It’s modern, yet classic and heavy, yet very melodic.
If this is their best work to date is up to the Sparzanza fans to decide, but for me as a newcomer, I won’t put this album away anytime soon.
Jon Wilmenius (7/10)
Tracklist:
01. Temple Of The Red-Eyed Pigs
02. Alone With A Loaded Gun
03. Mr Fish
04. Follow Me
05. Crone Of Bell
06. Phoenix Down
07. Night Of The Demons
08. Eyed Wide Shut
09. Hell Is Mine
10. The Devil’s Rain
11. The Reckoning
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