Heavy Melodic Rock
Reigning Phoenix Music
Release Date – March 21st 2025
Line Up:
Nic Maeder – Vocals
Leo Leoni – Guitar
Freddy Scherer – Guitar
Marc Lynn – Bass
Flavio Mezzodi – Drums
Tracklist:
AI&I
Thunder And Lightning
Rusty Rose
Burning Bridges
Drive My Car
Boom Boom
Life
Liverpool
Shake, Shake
Devil In The Moonlight
Dig A Little Deeper
These Are The Days
It’s not a stretch to suggest that Gotthard are now legends in their own right of heavy rock. They are the only band that I have actively followed around the country along with my mate Steve, who introduced me to the band with ‘Sister Moon’. They have consistently produced excellently crafted melodic heavy rock and they’re not afraid to expand or chuck in a cover or two. So, when this popped into my inbox, I felt very lucky indeed.
Opening with a huge riff led by the pounding bass of Marc Lynn and Nic Maeder singing in a lower register at the start before bringing the power and sounding remarkably like the sadly departed Steve Lee. It shows everything that’s great about Gotthard – a heavy riff and a catchy vocal melody. ‘Thunder And Lightning’ brings a real west coast feel but it still has a heavy edge and another fantastic melody which is perfect for radio. Someone gives us a nice 70’s organ for the intro on ‘Burning Bridges’ which dives into a big and bold Uriah Heep style classic rocker then we get a marvellous cover of the Beatles’ ‘Drive My Car‘ before the glam stomp of ‘Boom Boom’ gets the party started. ‘Life’ is the first ballad played with a soft electric piano line before the synth strings enter with some simple fills from the guitars. ‘Liverpool’ is a big shiny lump of AOR that gallops along and gets the head nodding then that organ comes back on the darkly serious ‘Shake, Shake’. Things get heavier on ‘Devil In The Moonlight’ with Lynn banging his bass again before another big melodic rocker ‘Dig A Little Deeper’. Album closer ‘These Are The Days’ goes a bit bluesy with some ‘gob iron’ before they settle into another radio friendly rocker.
Another fine album to go with the rest of the catalogue and definitely an equal to the likes of ‘Lipservice‘ and ‘Domino Effect‘. Gotthard really do give you the best of both worlds with their heavy gritty riffs, wonderful catchy melodies and rockin’ rhythms. If you like rock music, you’ll love this.
Written by: Smudge
Ratings: 9/10
About Author
