This is the 15th album of the Danish hard rockers Pretty Maids, and is, once again, one of the most noticeable albums of 2016. For all those who are still keeping track of Pretty Maids’ last releases, it’s pretty clear that they are getting heavier than ever and it suits them really well. One of the most important features of Pretty Maids is that they are capable of playing and composing all kind of music styles, from hard rock to heavy metal. Their discography includes A.O.R., hard rock, heavy metal and power metal songs, and that is why they have all kinds of fans.
“Kingmaker” is one more successful release of 2016 by Frontiers Records, 3 years after they released the amazing “Motherland”. I “got into” the album the moment that I listened to the second track and saw one of the videos, “Kingmaker”. Although the new album as a whole reminds me of the last Ozzy albums – which aren’t really my cup of tea – and also tends to be more modern than before, I believe that it suits them perfectly. One more song that had me from hello was the songs “Bull’s Eyes” and “Was That What You Wanted,” which got my attention mostly because of the lyrics.
The production of “Kingmaker: is flawless as always, and Atkin’s voice is at its best to support his heavy metal side. The lyrics are more in tune with current events than ever and they are partly dedicated to the bad news we get so much of nowadays.
As a result, Kingmaker will please mostly heavy metal fans. There is a chance that Pretty Maids will lose the most melodic and AOR fans. I am satisfied with the album, but if I had to choose between Motherland and Kingmaker, I think my feelings where much more positively intense with the first one.
