Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: State of Salazar
Label: Frontiers Records
Released: 2014
Length: 46:55
Rating: 4/5
In 2010, five students from a music academy in the Swedish city of Malmö decided to start a band. After two years of working on their own material, they put out an EP in 2012 called »Lost My Way«, which caught the eye of Frontiers Records. The hint is obvious: this is yet another band devoted to melodic rock, drawing inspiration from the west coast / AOR school. The idea for a band like this first came to main songwriter and lyricist Marcus Nygren back in 2009, when he wrote a few tracks that didn’t fit the style of the band he was in at the time, the metalheads B-Point Rose.
State of Salazar are an interesting mix that sticks to the basic principles of west coast / AOR, then adds influences from Toto (Seventh One era) and Queen (the eighties stuff) to that core. That alone proves the quintet is made up of truly excellent musicians. Proper musical training and talent (hand in hand) help them pull off a convincing recycling, or rather a building-in, of some evergreen musical building blocks in an ever-fresh and juicy way. In that sense, this is a band you can file under pure Scandinavian melodic rock, the kind Work of Art play, for example (the songs Time to Say Goodbye or Always). The same goes for the production, which is carefully polished and keeps every element of the sonic picture equally in the spotlight.
The band shows its huge potential right away on the upbeat opener I Believe in You. The song gradually builds the mood from the verse into the pre-chorus, which then flows seamlessly into a hooky, grabby chorus. The rest of the songs follow the same pattern. The band clearly paid a lot of attention to the details. Keeping things melodically accessible is the focus of the songwriting, and the harmonized vocal lines effectively dramatize the mood and add a bombastic allure. State of Salazar come across like a mini orchestra squeezed into a quintet. The instruments are always held in virtuous balance in the arrangements and never steal attention from each other. They blend the punch of rock with the “friendliness” of pop beautifully. The key role in all that infectious melody goes to the phenomenal vocalist Marcus Nygren. He can comfortably be ranked among the finest melodic rock singers of the new generation, headed up by Tobi Hitchcock (Pride of Lions). Nygren has clearly listened to a lot of Queen and Toto. His voice carries traces of Mercury and Joseph Williams! He also shows an exceptional knack for laying a soul veneer over the basic form of the vocal melodies. A flawless, highly charismatic voice that owns every position its register takes it to. Sophisticated and smooth when it needs to be, fiery and explosive the next moment. Nygren is one of the biggest draws of this record, and with a vocalist and songwriter like him, the band has a truly bright future ahead.
The songwriting highlights of the album? One of the key points is definitely the title track, where State of Salaza perfectly show off their artistic maturity and polish. The song has Toto influences, yet it stays true to the fundamental premise of melodic rock. Eat Your Heart Out also owes a debt of inspiration to Toto (especially the chorus). Always sounds like someone whispered Work of Art into the band’s ear, but with a different energy. Nygren’s vocals have an incredibly solid, expressive charisma. Marie is another more interesting piece. The verse is led in a Queen-esque direction in its vocal melodies, but “twisted” so that the keyboard arrangement flirts with the Toto Seventh One sound again. Repackaged and served up with exceptional power and plenty of heart. Marie has it all. A killer chorus with added female backing harmonies that masterfully contrast with the mood. The guys in State of Salazar obviously know exactly what they’re doing when it comes to songwriting. The sped-up Catastrophy near the end also keeps the album nicely in the high vibe zone. The closing Edn of Time doesn’t promise anything special at first, then blossoms into an outstanding “middle eight” where the band borrows a neo-classical arranging style, so the song comes off as a proper mini epic suite, set up as the grand finale. A real little tribute to Queen.
The album loses some credibility because of its tearful streak pushing through, as the lyrics mostly wallow in broken relationships between men and women. That bothers me especially on the two ballads, Love of My Life and Let me Love, which are bursting with pathos, even though the tracks “stand up” (arrangement-wise, but they feel “worn out”).
Yes. The influences of the pioneering days of rock ‘n’ roll are felt, but State of Salazar still manage to carve out a convincing, self-made stance within the otherwise predictable melodic rock framework they’re sworn to. »All the Way« is more than an excellent debut. You can tell the quintet is made up of top-class musicians who know exactly what they want to serve up and also know how to deliver it the right way. With this debut, State of Salazar signal that this is a band with plenty more great melodic rock up its sleeve.
Oh, and by the way: State of Salazar had the special honor of opening this year’s edition of the Frontiers Rock festival as the first band on the bill, in the little town of Trezzo sull’Adda (near Milan), held between 01.05.2014 and 03.05.2014. You can read the full report on the first day of the festival, where State of Salazar played too, HERE!
Line-up
Marcus Nygren – vocals
Johan Thuresson – guitar
Stefan Mårtenson – keyboards
Johannes Hansson – bass guitar
Kristian Brun – drums
Production
Marcus Nilsson
Track List
1. I Believe In You
2. Field of Dreams
3. All the Way
4. Love of My Life
5. Eat Your Heart Out
6. Time to Say Goodbye
7. Marie
8. Let Me Love
9. Catastrophe
10. Always
11. Adrian
12. End of Time
