I have always liked Anette Olzon as a singer. Not only does she have a strong voice and a wide range, there’s also something in her voice that speaks to me – I feel good when I hear her sing. To this day I find the two Nightwish albums she sang on the band’s best. The two albums she has recorded with The Dark Element are really good but I must admit Anette’s voice had a lot to do with that. Back in 2014 Olzon released her first solo album Shine, an album I took a liking to right away but I must admit that I haven’t listened to it for quite some time. And now it’s time for her to follow it up. This album was co-written with producer and guitarist Magnus Karlsson and has Anette’s hubby Magnus Husgafvel on growl-vocals with Jacob Hansen (Pretty Maids, Volbeat) mixing the whole thing.
Opening track “Bye Bye Bye” comes off like the lost cousin to Nightwish’s “Bye Bye Beautiful” both lyrically and musically. It’s an uptempo symphonic Metal tune, hard yet very melodic and bears a slight resemblance to The Dark Element as well. It’s dramatic and edgy and the growl mid-break brings on some contrasts to the catchy chorus. A great song and a damn good opener. Latest single “Sick Of You” is an uptempo and heavy mixture of Pop and Metal with some distinct melodies on a thunderous rhythm-section and sharp riffing. More growls comes along side by side with the hook-laden vocal-melodies and even though the chorus might be somewhat repetitive, it’s also what makes it stick. Yeah, I like this one too.
“I Need To Stay” is fat and heavy yet melodic with prominent hooks and a modern Metal touch. The song goes back and forward from Metal to even Pop, from growl to clean vocals and while I dig contrasts it feels like the song don’t know where it should go. It’s quite in-your-face and the chorus is direct enough but I have a hard time grasping the tune and it gets lost on me. The title-track however is way better. It comes in a slower pace with a darker atmosphere, quite heavy and bombastic and with a symphonic outlook. The verses are more held-back and down-beat yet quite intense with a chorus that makes a left-turn and brings on a bigger pop-vibe that’s perfect for modern rock-radio. Pretty good tune.
Leading single “Parasite” is big on orchestration albeit still heavy, fast and raunchy with a punchy beat and edgy riffing all over the place. It’s a blistering fist to the gut where every melody goes for the throat (with some pop-melodies to make it catchy) and a chorus that’s both punchy and effective. It might not be a single for main-stream radio but I’m surprised that rock-radio didn’t pick it up. The album’s first ballad is “Sad Lullaby”, a melancholic yet bombastic ballad, well orchestrated. It’s a dramatic tear-jerker that pays tribute to Olzon’s father who passed away in Covid. Slow and down-beat in the verses, the soundscape gets bigger in the large chorus that’s very direct and infectious. Very good.
“Fantastic Fanatic” is a straight ahead Metal meets Hard Rock belter with symphonic undertones. There are more laid-back passages that works up some dynamics as the refrain is both upbeat and punchy. The track as whole is one of those fist-to-the-jaw punchers. The chorus is pretty catchy but it comes off as quite standard and middle-of-the-road. With melodies borrowed from ABBA mixed with a symphonic Metal foundation, “Who Can Save Them” is aggressive, rough and in-your-face with more growl-parts thrown in. The fact that Anette sings the hell out of the song pretty much saves it as the song itself is quite forgettable.
“Catcher Of My Dreams” is way better. This symphonic Metal piece is upbeat, fast-tracked and straight ahead with a powerful rhythm where the rhythm-section is full of vigour and sparks. The song’s main-melody sticks right away and the glistening pop-melodies marries brilliantly with the song’s heavy construction – and the chorus is made of super-glue. Great. “Hear Them Roar” continues the fast tempo but holds some slicker verses that goes into pop-territory with the Nightwish inspired chorus blasts away with more growl parts and intensity. It’s a decent song but it really doesn’t linger for long.
Closing track “Roll The Dice” sets ablaze with some fast and muscular verses with a distinct heaviness and punchy rhythms. The song takes a left turn when the chorus comes along and goes into a slower pace where the soundscape becomes more bombastic and grandiose with a symphonic orchestration and the vocal-melodies holds some prominent hooks and memorable poppiness. While the song is really catchy, it’s not in a hit-friendly way, more in an album-track kind of way. It’s a good song and one of the album’s finest.
While I could listen Anette Olzon sing pretty much anything I still want the songs to be more than competent to fully enjoy an album but just like a lot of the stuff that Magnus Karlsson has been involved in of lately, this album is only that – competent. That to me means that there are some really good stuff on here but also some uneven and forgettable stuff. Also, I really could do without the growls. Musically, the album goes in the direction of what Olzon has been involved in lately – symphonic Metal not a far cry from neither Nightwish or The Dark Element. Nothing wrong with that but I had hoped that Olzon would have gone on another path with her solo album. All in all, a good competent album but a few steps from being great.
5/10
More Anette Olzon reviews:
Tracklist:
1. Bye Bye Bye
2. Sick Of You
3. I Need To Stay
4. Strong
5. Parasite
6. Sad Lullaby
7. Fantastic Fanatic
8. Who Can Save Them
9. Catcher Of My Dreams
10. Hear Them Roar
11. Roll The Dice
CD & Festival reviews 