BLACK BRICK ROAD

You would think from the band's name, the gloomy cover art and song titles that this was a Gothic release. Most place this band under that genre too but like fellow Swedes NIGHTINGALE (Dan Swano) this has but a hint of that Gothic flavour in the music. Heck ANEKDOTEN is way darker and more melancholic than these guys. For the most part these tracks are upbeat and catchy. Go figure.

"The Greymen" kicks in before a minute with vocals. Some nice guitar before 3 minutes. A catchy,uptempo tune. "Making Evenings" has more bottom end to it but it's still a toe tapper. I like the instrumental section before 3 minutes to end it. "Black Brick Road" opens with a dark guitar line as the organ and drums join in. Vocals follow. Lazy guitar with organ before 3 minutes then it kicks back in. "Dystopia" is upbeat and uptempo like the first track. Catchy stuff. "The Organ" is melancholic with organ (surprise). Reserved vocals join in. The guitar before 3 1/2 minutes soars.

"A Trip With The Moon" is again upytempo and catchy with synths on the chorus this time. "Sister Sinister" has some guest female vocals trading off with the male vocals. A fun tune. Gothic is not supposed to be fun people ! "Rainy Day Away" and the last track are my two favourites. This one has a full rich sound to it as he sings "Let's take a ride in my green machine" over and over. And yes i've taken many trips in the green machine my friend. "Crazyman" is the best track i've heard from the band. Maybe that says a lot about how i feel about them because we have a guest vocalist and a much heavier and intense sound here. How about an album full of songs like this ? Ripping guitar 2 1/2 minutes in pretty much to the end.

3.5 stars. I like this quite a bit but I tire of the catchy tracks really fast.