In all the things and principles around the world there are exceptions to every single rule. Naturally, the music world is not an exception to that rule (see what I did here…?) and even though I have expressed numerous times in the past my reservation regarding the Scandinavian-based hard rock, I always had a good word to say about Eclipse…not that the Swedish outfit would even pay attention to what the music journalists say about them but still…
It seems that Eclipse continues the upward trajectory with yet another superb album. The band celebrates their 20th anniversary since its debut album came out and “Wired” is one more flawless addition to the illustrious back catalogue. No surprises here…“Wired” follows the same old, well-tried and well-crafted musical recipe that Eclipse is well-known for (especially after “Bleed & Scream”) with up-tempo songs and hard hitting, in your face drum patterns that provide the concrete foundation for the trademark Eclipse sound. As it was expected, Martensson and Henriksson are the undisputed ringmasters once again while it goes almost without saying that their compositional talent has reached high qualitative levels without absolutely no filler in sight!
I am certain that all the fans of the Scandinavian scene and the old-school nostalgic veterans of the arena rock sound will find lots of reasons here to speak highly and praise “Wired”. Surely a hard rock point of reference for 2021…
Highlight: Blackmore and…Beethoven fan alert: keep an eye (and ear) on the song “Twilight”.
