By: Anders

Posted: Mar 27, 2006

This Swedish band took me a bit by surprise, I have never heard a single word about the band, before their debut album "No Fear Of Tomorrow" ended up in my mailbox. After my first listen to the album, I had written it off as another attempt to resurrect classic melodic heavy metal, though as time went and the amount of spins got higher, the music turned out to become more and more interesting.

There are many elements in the music which sounds very familiar, and the band is composing most of their material in the classic and expected way, when we talk about melodic heavy metal. That has might been the case, of why I didn't find the music that exiting at first. Though as one gets deeper into the music, the brilliant performances from the musicians start to show their impact. There are some great guitar work on the album, great melodic leads and some good ripping solos. There is a neo-classical hint over the guitar-work at times, and at other times there is a more straight ahead melodic rock drive over it. The rhythm section is pretty tight and hard-hitting, the bass is nice and audible and is placed well in the mix, as well as the drums, which are quite low, though that is a very fitting feature, as it is the guitars and the vocals that rules the world of StormCrow, together with the pieces of keyboards that appear once in a while. The vocals are quite distinct and take a little while to get used to, though after they have set themselves on the mind, they actually work quite well together with the music the band makes. They are quite raw in the edges, but possesses a lot of melody and power when it is needed. And when Anders Hjärtström goes high, it sounds great and adds that last bit to the music and atmosphere, a solid and varied vocal-performance.

This album will hit it right of with people into classic melodic heavy metal, there is not much doubt about that. It is an enjoyable record with many good moments, though it is built upon classic recipes and doesn't offer that much new, but a good debut effort and if the band keeps it up, I'm sure there are a lot of good albums in wait. The song-writing is solid and catchy, and the music well-played. Get down to the pusher and check this album out, you could start with my fave 'Down To The River', a good heavy metal basher with good driving guitars, great vocal work and a great catching atmosphere.

Rating: 7½/10

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