Metal
AFM Records
Release Date – September 13th 2024
Line Up:
Gianni Pontillo – Vocals
Herman Frank – Guitar
Mike Pesin – Guitar
Malte Fredrik Burkert – Bass
Michael Stein – Drums
Tracklist:
1 – Tonight We Rock
2 – American Girl
3 – Count On Me
4 – Surrender My Heart
5 – Unbelievable World
6 – Moonlit Sky
7 – Falling
8 – Money
9 – Reason To Love
10 – Virtual Sin
Victory are one of those bands that tend to get overlooked. They’ve been around in one guise or another since 1985, and this is their 14th album by my reckoning. They’ve had some solid performers through their ranks, but the one constant has been the riff machine himself, Herman Frank. With this record, they have continued the stunning work from 2021’s Gods of Tomorrow—if you haven’t heard it, get yourself a copy pronto because, like this, it’s red hot.
A big, grinding riff kicks off Tonight We Rock (yeah, we do!), which settles into a tasty groove that’s sure to get your head nodding and your fist pumping before the mid-paced hard rock of American Girl brings in a throbbing bassline from Malte Fredrik Burkert. This is perfect for radio and one of those dad-driving compilations. Then we get Count on Me, which changes gears and features some blinding riffage and fills from Frank and Mike Pesin. Surrender My Heart gets heavy with a superb chugger that has a mean breakdown on the chorus, where singer Gianni Pontillo sounds like the sadly departed Steve Lee from Gotthard. It’s hard and heavy but oh so melodic.
Shades of the East appear on Unbelievable World, along with another dose of chug for good measure, before we get another bouncy bassline on Moonlit Sky, which takes us right into Accept territory, thank you very much. Falling gets a bit darker and meaner, then we go hell for leather on the punchy Money. Reason to Love eases back for a heavy rock ballad before we get a re-working of Virtual Sin, the title track of the only Poison Sun album from 2010, which featured Herman’s missus Martina on vocals. It’s another one you should seek out because it’s a scorcher too.
Herman Frank has a real knack for writing catchy, heavy, melodic metal songs. The riffs are big and expansive, and the solos are perfectly matched to the song. I don’t know who comes up with the vocal melodies, but they are world-class. A band is the sum of its parts, and here we have a true band, with everybody working for the song. If you like well-written, expertly played, great-sounding hard rock/metal—Dennis Ward mastered this beast—then look no further. You really won’t be disappointed.
Written by: Smudge
Ratings: 8/10
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