Despite a title which sounds suspiciously like a song by the ghastly Evanescence, ‘Bring you back to life’ is actually a convincing and solid dose of radio friendly hard rock, the like of which we’re always bemoaning the lack thereof here at SonicAbuse. A nine track album (ten tracks if you include the brief, orchestral ‘prelude’) that briskly dispenses numerous catchy riffs in the vein of Europe, MSG and their ilk, Jarvid Borge Gjetoy possessed of a suitably gritty, melodic voice, the rest of the band more than capable of laying earth-shaking and yet catchy foundations upon which he can work.
Having dispensed with ‘prelude’, a pleasant enough introduction to the album that sets the scene nicely, the band kick straight into gear with ‘this is your war’, a sugar-coated, yet hard-hitting riff fest that would surely have eaten up the airwaves had it been released in the eighties but now goes destined to be acknowledged only by a faithful few thanks to radio’s seeming inability to playlist anything good. With its massed “woahs” on the chorus and hard rock solos the song is reminiscent of the ‘generation terrorist’ era Manics, Europe and vintage Bon Jovi, and the overall effect is a song that lodges itself inside your brain like a giant, candy-coated bullet that you won’t shift for days. Vegar leads off with the drums for the massive title track which veers between Slash, Guns ‘n’ Roses and Foo Fighters with its stair-stepping riffs, monumental melodies and pounding percussion. ‘Heaven and hell’ is a striking piece of road rock with chugging riffs, an enigmatic chorus that leads straight to the staccato riffing of ‘face the storm’, an easy album highlight thanks to its chrome plated groove and annoyingly addictive melodies. Another album highlight follows hot on its heels in the form of ‘Bridges burn’ which gives Knut and Jarvid plenty of opportunity to demonstrate their excellent skills upon the guitar via a series of harmonised solos that tear across the latter half of the track.
With the album flying past, the subtle intro of ‘lost, never found’ calms things for the most fleeting of moments before the band come crashing in with a hard-hitting riff. A song that slips effortlessly from a restrained verse to a full-blown metallic monster of a chorus, it’s the sort of song that dares you not to sing along, a challenge you’ll often find yourself losing. ‘Cold world’ sounds like mid-90s Alice Cooper (albeit stripped of his theatricality) crossed with Bon Jovi, with its chugging, rhythmic riffs and melodic vocals all sucking you in whether you wish to be or not. ‘Those days’ is the album’s token soft moment, a rippling, reverb-drenched piece of music which tugs at the heart strings as the band indulge in the sort of soft-rock balladry that Nickleback have forever dreamt of (and forever failed at) writing. That just leaves ‘what if’ to send the album out on a high, which it does by unleashing the record’s most seismic riff as the record spins to an end a mere 36 minutes after you pushed play. It’s a suitably hard-as-nails ending and leaves you wanting more from these talented musicians.
A much maligned genre, melodic hard rock seems to be played by all too few bands these days. It seems the only way to get attention now is by pushing to the extremes of whatever genre you operate within, but what we really lack is solid, radio friendly hard rock in the vein of Guns ‘n’ Roses, Manic Street Preachers and Europe being produced by up and coming bands. Revolver Avenue rectify this and in ‘bring you back to life’ the band have produced nine gleaming, radio friendly gems which capture the attention and demonstrate both excellent musicianship and mature song-writing skills. If you love music with both melody and bite, then ‘bring you back to life’ is for you.
