ΟΚ, here’s another episode of “I wanna get born, live, die and be cremated in Scandinavia”… Season 66… episode 666.
It’s the first time I ever listen to this band and I am really happy when I get to hear stuff that you can’t pigeonhole, you can’t just throw a tag, because they have a lot of different influences, that might be specific and easy to recognize, but the way they blend them won’t let you say towards which side they lean on.
The album’s title “Heads Have Got To Rock’N’Roll” sounds sensible and I really don’t have anything against such a statement. The album opener, “This Isn’t Your First Rodeo”, brought to my mind and I guess it will do this to you too, to Motorhead’s classic albums like “Overkill” and “Bomber”, as Magick Touch play like that. But, just as you thought that you figured them out and here’s another retro/vintage copycat they hit you with the next songs that don’t follow the same pattern and we listen to those Norsemen nailing their riffs, playing their music, always influenced by the monsters of rock, sounding fresh and full of energy and passion.
From then on, “To The Limit”, which was also released as a music video sounds like Saxon’s “Suzie Hold On” in the begging. It sounded identical to me, but sometimes this things happen in rock and metal, either you borrow something from someone, or you steal it doesn’t really matter in the end. “Bad Decisions” sent me straight to Thin Lizzy Land and Phil Lynott with a couple of lyrics in there. You can’t get more direct than that, can you? Another highlight of the album I’d say was “Daggers Dance” that kicks off with a totally Gary Moore riff. From then on the song follows its own path.
In a nutshell, this is a great album. When I started listening to it I didn’t have a clue if that was their first, or second. After I did a little research I found out that it’s their third and hope not the last.
