Lions Share

Fri
31
Oct

220 VOLT - Walking In Starlight (Review)

information persons: 
section name: 
SCORE
content: 

 

75%
Produced By: 
22o Volt
Running Time: 
60
Release Date: 
2014
Released: 
Europe
Musical Style: 
Hard Rock
Label: 
AOR Heaven
Artist: 
Score: 
75
Friday, October 31, 2014
Categories: 
Reviews
 
Sweden delivers yet another rock band in the form of 220 Volt. But these guys aren’t new – they’re back from the 80s, with their first proper studio album since 1997.
It doesn’t happen often, but this is one band that skipped past me in the heyday, so more or less, despite reported changes to their sound, I’m taking them on as a new listener.
Anders Engberg (ex-Therion ex-Lions Share), who joined this group on late 2012, is the new voice of the band, so with a fresh voice it really is a new start for the band.
Founding members Thomas Drevin and Mats Karlsson handle the guitars and drummer Peter Hermansson complete the line-up.
 
What I’m hearing is pretty typical Scandi-styled melodic hard rock. I’ve spun it several times and I’m liking the vocals, which sound a little like the great Matti Alfonzetti or Goran Edman, but otherwise I’m struggling with the songs somewhat.
 
Production is ok, it’s not a sharp or as crisp as it should be and compared to some other recent releases. The drum and cymbal sound in particular is weak.
Coupled with some songs that don’t quite do it for me and a sound I’ve heard before, I rate this as a decent release that fans of the band should enjoy, but I’m not seeing huge crossover potential.
This is a pretty hard rocking release though. There are times where the band takes it up a notch and that’s when I think they sound at their best – tracks like Alive, Through The Wastelands and System Overload.
Plus the more melodic Take A Good Look and Stranded.
 
Overall, not bad, but not a stand out for me in this always crowded market. I expect longtime fans will enjoy and newcomers to the European hard rock scene might also find something worthy here.
 
 
Wed
23
Jul

New 220V Album Due on AOR Heaven September 26

Artist: 
Friday, September 26, 2014
Categories: 
News Feed
 
      
 
Swedish hard rock act 220 Volt returns to the scene with a new album called “Walking In Starlight”.  Anders Engberg (ex-Therion ex-Lions Share), who joined this group on late 2012, is the new voice of the band. This is his first full album with 220 Volt. Founding members Thomas Drevin and Mats Karlsson handle the guitars, and drummer Peter Hermansson completes the line-up.
 
220 Volt (founded 1979) was among the top hard rock acts in Scandinavia during the 80's and released their first, self titled album on CBS in June 1983. The band then went on to release five albums between 1983-1988. The last one recorded in the 80's was the album Eye to Eye which is their best selling album internationally, and it was also on heavy rotation on MTV and many radio stations around the world. It was produced by legendary producer Max Norman (Ozzy/Megadeth/Y&T etc..) and who also has mixed 5 tracks for “Walking In Starlight”.
 
The band’s reputation was built on frequent album releases and energetic live shows. Besides performing their own headline shows, the Swedes have also toured as support for AC/DC and Nazareth among others. In 1985, 220 Volt performed in front of 80.000 people in Warsaw, Poland. The show was broadcasted live on Polish TV, among the first ever TV-shows in the eastern block to feature a hard rock band.
 
220 Volt split up in 1992, but released the studio album Lethal Illusion in 1997. The quartet was active for a while between 2002-2008 with members from an earlier line-up and produced two albums, “Volume 1” and the live album “Made in Jamtland”.
 
Songs like “Firefall”, “Love Is All You Need”, “Beat Of  A Heart”, “The Harder They Come”, “Heavy X-mas” and “Power Games” to name a few, still get airplay around the world... Songs you'll be likely to hear live again soon! 
 
Discography: 220 Volt (1983), Power Games (1984), Mind over muscle (1985), Young and wild (1987), Eye To Eye (1988), Lethal Illusion (1997), Volume 1 (2002), Made in Jamtland (2005), Heavy X-mas revisited (2009, EP), Walking In Starlight (2014)
 
 
Line-up: Anders Engberg – vocals, Thomas Drevin – guitars, Mats Karlsson – guitars, Peter Hermansson – drums 
 
Sound clips in advance:
 
 
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