Pop metal prodigies Metalite return with a new vocalist and a further refined sound on their second album, Biomechanicals.
Some music can instantly be placed when heard and Swedish pop songs fall into that category for me. It was almost exactly 2 years ago I reviewed Heroes in Time, the debut from the Swedish band Metalite. In the meantime, I’ve listened to a lot of music and as soon as I heard the first song on Biomechanicals the Swedish pop sensibilities became readily apparent. For those who don’t know, the band is from Stockholm and been around since 2015. Guitariste Edwin Premberg met vocalist Emma Bensing and the two began a collaboration with producer Jacob Hansen (Volbeat, Evergrey, Amaranthe) and the songs started to flow. In the next year, the rest of the band was added and the band signed to Inner Wound Records. This time around, the band has picked up Erica Ohlsson to handle the vocal duties while keeping everything else the same including producer Jacob Hansen and recording at Hansen Studios.
Given the band being a female-fronted pop metal band, one expects much of the emphasis to be on the vocals so after the departure of the excellent Emma Bensing, the obvious question is whether or not Erica Ohlsson can fill those large shoes. As it turns out there is nothing to worry about in the vocal department, much like her predecessor, Erica’s vocals are perfectly suited for Swedish pop almost too perfectly, perhaps. Think about any popular Swedish pop band’s vocals and Erica could fill in for any of them, her vocals are that good for that style. To my ears though, Emma’s vocals were a bit darker in tone, making them more suited for the more aggressive sound on Heroes in Time that I favor.
What would we become if allowed to grow into our own passions? Lance King raises this tantalising question right off the bat in his second solo album, “ReProgram” that was released on 29 March 2019. His concern for the death of a child’s creativity is underscored in the music. I hear the dread in the volleys of driving kick drum and plaintive keyboards, while the guitars point accusatory fingers at a dystopian status quo where conformity trumps originality.
Comrades have been around for more than a decade, what started as a post-hardcore band in Virginia in 2008, have now shifted its base to Colorado. “For We Are Not Yet, We Are Only Becoming” is their sophomore album, which was released under the banner of Facedown Records and hit the stores on the 7th June 2019. The band essentially comprises of the Husband-Wife duo Laura & Joe McElroy and John Gaskill (of Life In Your Way, Endeavor and Converyor fame). The band have had many ups and downs, they’ve toured quite extensively and list close to 50 tours. They list Beloved, As Cities Burn, The Fall of Troy, Red Sparrows, Russian Circles and Thrice as some of their influences.