If there was ever a covers album that everyone should have in their collection, then surely it must be ‘Swedish Hitz Goes Metal’ where Reinxeed took songs by Abba, Roxette and Ace of Base and turned them into something quite different. Singer and guitarist Tommy Reinxeed states that he gets his inspiration from Gary Moore, Angra, Stratovarius, Robby Valentine, Symphony X and Helloween, which is interesting as I certainly don’t get all of that from listening to this his sixth album. Before this I had only heard the covers album, so I have come to the music quite fresh, and the thing that one notices before anything else is that Tommy has got one hell of a voice. In many ways this is power metal with hints of symphonic, but there is a far more commercial element, almost as if Roxette have gone out and played with Europe to get something that isn’t really power pop, isn’t really metal, isn’t really hard rock, but is rather a weird very commercial mix of all of them.
It is an album that can’t really be taken too seriously, and the result is that as there is no hidden agenda it is music to make the listener smile. Although the music may not always be as metallic and in your face as Tommy seems to think it is, and although he is actually a really good guitarist with some great riffs and solos, it is the vocals that really make this stand out as he seriously has a great set of pipes. Too lightweight for the serious metalhead, this is still definitely worthy of investigation, although it has to be said that “Northern Allstars” is cheesy beyond belief…
