Label: ROAR! Rock Of Angels Records
Release Date: June 22th, 2018
Genre: Hard Rock
Links: https://www.facebook.com/bigcitynorway/
Line Up:
Jan Le Brandt – Vocals (Memoria Avenue, Northquake)
Daniel Olaisen – Guitars (Scariot, Blood Red Throne, ex-Satyricon)
Frank Ørland – Guitars (ex-Scariot)
Miguel Pereira – Bass (Withem)
Frank Nordeng Røe – Drums (Withem, Maraton)
Tracklist:
1. Big City Life
2. Cryin’ In The Night
3. Daemon In The Dark
4. Rocket Man
5. Stars Surrounding
6. From This Day
7. Running For Your Life
8. Forgive Me Now
9. Tower Of Babylon
10. Home Again ‘Wintersleep‘ Tracklist:
1. Midnight Train
2. Innocence Of A Kill
3. Wintersleep
4. Fire And Stone
5. Too Late
6. The Last Sleep
7. Iseline
8. Love Break The Heart
9. Harbor Of Tears
10. Will You Be Gone
There’s something about the Scandinavian area that makes it rife for excellent music. From the darkest of Black and Death Metal to the most melodic Hard Rock, this block of countries seems to be born with the innate ability to create some of the most memorable music. One example is the band Big City. Their first album was released digitally back in 2013 and never really managed to propel the band to that next level. Fast forward to 2018 and they’re back with their follow-up entitled Big City Life, which will actually be a 2 CD digipak featuring their debut, Wintersleep, on CD for the very first time. Since I missed out on them the first time around, I’m glad they’ve gone this direction with the release, as you get two superb albums in one set.
The album opens up with their sophomore release Big City Life, and after listening through both, it’s definitely a much stronger release for the band. They’ve honed their craft for sure, stepping up their game with better songs and stronger performances. Not to say that Wintersleep is not a good album, as it very much is, it’s just they managed to take what they did with the first and really put out an even better album. The songs are finely crafted melodic hard rock gems, with stellar guitar hooks and great vocals. Tracks like “Stars Surrounding,” “Tower of Babylon,” and “Crying In the Night” up the ante for Big City Life, though truthfully the album as a whole is quite enjoyable, while songs like “Innocence of A Kill,” “Love Breaks the Heart,” “and “Too Late” are the stand-outs for Wintersleep.
You can’t really go wrong with tossing in a 2nd disc to a new release, especially when it’s not only your debut album but has never been available in this format prior. Digital is great, but I am definitely a physical copy kind of guy. If you enjoy melodic music in the vein of Newman with a little bit harder approach, Big City might just do the trick for you. Big City Life is a great album, not really raising the bar of melodic hard rock, but not really needing to either.
Written by: Chris Martin
Ratings: 8/10
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