Released by Tribunal Records
Release Date: August 10, 2010
Genre: Melodic Rock
Links: http://www.myspace.com/LoF
Line Up:
SHAWN PELATA – Lead and Backing Vocals
NIKKI DIMAGE – Lead, Rhythm and Acoustic Guitars, Keys, Bass, Backing Vocals
THOMAS CLARK – Lead & Rhythm Guitars
Additional Musicians:
Ed Darst
Guitars & Songwriting on ‘Line Of Fire’
Additional guitars & Songwriting on ‘Momentum’
Jeremy Thomas
Drums on ‘Momentum’
Eric Welch
Bass Guitars on ‘Momentum
Tracklist:
01. It Takes Time
02. Obsession
03. Give Me All
04. I’ll be The One Tonight
05. I Belong
06. The Fire Never Dies
07. I’m Crying For You
08. In The Stone
09. Undone
10. Ghost In Your Heart
11. Breaking The Chains
An interesting AOR release from these North Carolina natives came my way recently. I didn’t know much about these guys but apparently the group has been absent from the scene since 2006 when the original sessions for Momentum we’re ongoing. Trials and tribulations hit the band hard back then and the record had to be pushed back till now that is. Interesting place that these guys are from, I don’t remember ever hearing any AOR or Melodic Rock from the South East USA let along North Carolina, but what do you know right? The influences here are obvious American Melodic Rock, and the songs touch base with flashes of Journey, Boston amongst others.
Vocalist Shawn Pelata has a solid voice all things considering the style these guys bring to the table, nothing extraordinary but it gets the job done and fits the tempo of the songs quite well. A track like “Obsession” compliments the mid tempo style of the song’s playful rhythm pretty well. Even though “Give Me All” feels out of place in terms of vocalization, the guitar solo drive adds a little spunk to the overall feel. The more energetic push in “I Belong” plus the strong vocals of Pelata make this track a gem in the bunch of mostly standard melodic material. I was waiting for more upbeat tempo songs, event though the band sticks to the soul base AOR formula in most of the songs, the killer guitar force of “The Fire Never Dies” adds more fuel to the fire as the cool chorus sticks in with you. A cool bonus comes in the cover of the classic Dokken tune “Breaking The Chains” which the band reinvents into an acoustic version.
A couple of hit and misses and the fact that so much good material in the melodic rock universe has come out already and will for the rest of the year sorta takes some of the thunder away from Line of Fire. Is a good release but average if you compare it to the rest of the crowd. I do however recommend previewing some of the songs below and judge for yourself. I was left wanting to hear more from the band in the future, so a good step in the door now hopefully they can take the next step and evolve their sound next time.
Written by Denys
Ratings Denys 7/10
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