When I first started listening to this I had to do a bit of a double-take. I mean, this is classic melodic hard rock that has more than a hint of Toto and Journey about it, so what on earth is it doing on Nuclear Blast? When I then read the press release I had to sit down, as the singer is none other than Björn "Speed" Strid from the mighty Soilwork, and he formed the band with guitarist David Andersson from the same band, and bassist Sharlee D'Angelo from Arch Enemy! Needless to say it didn’t take the trio long to find like-minded spirits and the line-up was completed by Richard Larsson (keyboards), Jonas Källsbäck (drums, Jupiter Society) while Sebastian Forslund (guitars, percussion) has now been around for a while as well. Talk about dirty secrets.
This is their third album, but their debut for Nuclear Blast, so let’s hope that by being with a major label gets the guys the publicity it deserves as this is banging. If ever there was a good time party melodic hard rock album that sounds as if it had come out of America in the late Seventies then this is it. I’m still having issues getting my head around it, while my ears keep telling my brain to stop thinking so hard and just enjoy it. I’ve loved Soilwork for years, but I never thought that anyone connected with that band would ever release music like this. Put it on, pick a track at random, start playing those air guitars and have a blast. I love it.
