Released by: Steamhammer/SPV
Release Date: June 28th, 2011
Genre: Melodic Metal
Links: www.myspace.com/fullforcesweden
Line Up:
Mike Andersson (Cloudscape) – Vocals
Stefan Elmgren (ex-Hammerfall) – Guitars
CJ Grimmark (ex-Narnia) – Guitars
Tommy Larsson (ex-Heed) – Bass
Anders Johansson (Hammerfall, ex-Yngwie Malmsteen) – Drums
Tracklist:
1 Mythomaniac
2 None Of Your Concern
3 Heart And Soul
4 Oblivion
5 Open Your Eyes
6 Rain
7 Suffering In Silence
8 Walls Of Secrets
9 Father spirit
10 Bleed
11 Into The Cradle
With a name like Fullforce you could certainly expect some kick ass display of power and battery assault right? Or at least that is why I expected from the new band which compiles an all start cast of members Mike Andersson (Cloudscape,Vocals), Stefan Elmgren (ex Hammerfall, Guitars), Anders Johansson(Hammerfall, ex Yngwie J. Malmsteen, Drums), CJ Grimmark (ex Narnia, Guitars)and Tommy Larsson (ex Heed, Bass). Despite the obvious talent involved from other very good metal bands, these guys are hesitant to drop into the “project” band category as they intend to keep the line up going for future releases and live gigs.
So if you’re focus is strictly on the name of the band then you might be mislead, well just slightly anyways. The style of the band is pretty much melodic metal featuring the strong vocals of Andersson, who I have been a fan of with Cloudscape. Let’s face it reinventing the wheel in this genre as with other genres like progressive metal can turn out to be quite a steep rise, so let’s just say that most of the songs on “One” follow the same structures in terms of melody, but have a decent amount of pace and up tempo shifts that make the album tolerable.
You have the hard hitting “None Of Your Concern” as well the more throw back melody of “Oblivion” which holds a plowing mid tempo groove finding it’s way into the “interesting” category. The clunky bass of “Rain” reminds me a bit of “Jet City Woman” by Queensryche, except more metal of course. Another cool track is “Suffering In Silence” with a thundering drum beat and tasty guitar chop not easily dismissed. The purging guitars lead in “Father Spirit” tell an interesting tale inter weaved in it’s core and is actually one of the strongest on the record in terms of power. “Bleed’ comes off as another strong track because it induces more progressive metal elements and some interesting keyboard arrangements in the opener; this one reminds me more of some Cloudscape material.
I was a little let down though because Andersson’s doesn’t always hit the high rising vocal chords like I know he can, his pipes for the most part are well reserved; is not a bad thing but I just thought it would add a more wow factor to the record as is only evident on half of the record. Is a well produced album and all band members play with precision and skill, but while the sound is crisp and advantageous, I wasn’t blown away by the music too much because is rather typical of what you expect from a melodic metal outfit; tight riffs, some high end choruses and some interesting progressive metal shift pacing. In the end I felt that the band is still trying to figure out which style plays better, with a versatile vocalist like Andersson there’s really many avenues you can take the music direction in. Fullforce has some good things going forward with a strong core line up I’m sure the guys will look to evolve if they can release a sophomore record maybe unleashing the real ferocity of their name in their music, assuming the line up sticks together.
Written by Denys
Ratings Denys 7/10
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