ARCTIC RAIN- "Unity" (Frontiers)

Scandinavian AOR in its prime time. An album full of glossy, shining songs with radio friendly melodies and hooks strong enough to handle a shark. Swedes ARCTIC RAIN are among the finest in a genre, where innovation is going M.I.A but triviality can touch the ceiling and if it is combined with song craftship can change the final result. ARCTIC RAIN wont reinvent the wheel. Forget bands like ECLIPSE, HEAT etc. What they do is praise heyday JOURNEY and similar bands SURVIVOR, TREAT and the mighty TYKETTO in their glory days, delivering ear candy songs who fit every decent melodic rock radio station.

"From the opener "One world" HOUSE OF LORDS meets West Coast AOR in a fine blending and the usual Scandinavian touch especially at the keyboards. ARCTIC RAIN are not imitating or reviving any genre. They enjoy writing melodic rock anthems that are full of melody, emotion and so corny they could send a pensioner retirement house in diabetic coma with just one listening. Up tempo melodic rockers like "Fire in my eyes" and more anthemic ones like "Unity" deliver a melodic rock blizzard. "When we were young" is a piece de resistance with the powerful vocals of Tobias Johnsson giving the sign forMagnus Berglund to break in a heavy weight guitar solo, a blazing one ready’ for the MTV heavy airplay. But the most suiting song , self explanatory, is "Kings of the radio", a radio we all would love to exist, but corporate rock and extreme metal denied. Old school keyboards dominating and leading as in "Out of time" and a guitar player form the Kee Marcello school , drives ARCTIC RAIN to the 7th heaven of AOR perfection.

If you are after classic AOR with tons of melody and passion check ARCTIC RAIN , as "Unity" is a memorable album even in the years of plastic AOR.

7.5