Released by: Frontiers Music s.r.l.
Release: June 2nd, 2017
Genre: Heavy Metal
Links: https://www.facebook.com
Line Up:
Jorn Lande – Vocals
Alex Beyrodt – Guitars
Mat Sinner – Bass
Alessandro Del Vecchio – Keyboards
Francesco Iovino – Drums
Tracklist:
01 Life On Death Road
02 Hammered To The Cross (The Business)
03 Love Is The Remedy
04 Dreamwalker
05 Fire To The Sun
06 Insoluble Maze (Dreams In The Blindness)
07 I Walked Away
08 The Slippery Slope (Hangman’s Rope)
09 Devil You Can Drive
10 The Optimist
11 Man Of The 80’s
12 Blackbirds
The first time I heard the voice of Jorn Lande I had no idea who he was. I was seeing Yngwie Malmsteen for the first time, and had just watched Lizzy Borden perform for the first time ever (and I’d been a fan of both a long time!) When Yngwie’s set started this young, blond guy steps out of the darkness and unleashed this vocal prowess I never knew was capable. He stands to this day as one of the best vocalists I’ve ever seen live (2nd only to Jeff Scott Soto when he was with Journey.) Once I learned who he was I started seeking out anything and everything that his voice graced: from Vagabond all the way to his upcoming solo release Life On Death Road. Somehow he manages to deliver an exceptional performance every time and chooses projects outside of his own material that compliments his talent perfectly.
Early in his career, Jorn worked with the team of Marsden/Moody for a project called The Snakes that was mostly an off-shoot of the pairing’s work in Whitesnake, while in later days he has become one of the Ambassadors of the late great Ronnie James Dio work through his own tribute and working with the legends final band Heaven & Hell (you know, Black Sabbath.) Lande has also proven himself to be quite the handy Power Metal singer to have around, which tends to be the best example of where his material lies most of the time, though he has always had a powerful melodic style as well. His last solo effort Heavy Rock Radio was an homage to some of the great bands/songs of yesterday and seems like it was the perfect launching pad for Life On Death Road. What has impressed me most with this album is the brilliant melding of hard rocking melodic metal, catchy songs that take pages from both bands Whitesnake and Dio while still sounding 100% like a Jorn album, combining it all into his shining moment of his career thus far.
You can certainly tell that a lot of time and energy was put into this album, and with the level of musicianship backing him up (Mat Sinner, Alex Beyrodt, Alessandro Del Vecchio, and Francesco Iovino all names of prominence in the metal/hard rock world) it’s an album that fans of melodic 80’s style hard rock shall rejoice getting their hands on. This magnificent high energy album is going to make for the perfect soundtrack of the summer. With tracks like “Love Is the Remedy,” “Man of the 80’s,” “Life On Death Road,” and “Dreamwalker,” which are the standout’s on a damn near perfect record, this album is a definite must have.
To think of how amazing he was 17 years ago when I saw him for the first time, his talent and skill have only gotten better with time. Life On Death Road could very well be his crowning achievement. It’s that good. Between his stellar vocals to the brilliantly memorable songs to the on-target performances, this album is one that will likely wind up on many Best of Lists by the end of the year. Jorn and his crew should be very pleased by this album, and fans ought to love it. The buzz I have seen online has certainly been all positive, and justifiably so
Reviewer: Chris Martin
Rating: 10/10
Editors Pick