Label: Frontiers Music Srl.
Release date: January 22, 2021
Production:
Album length: 42.00 min
Genre: Melodic Rock
Rating: 8.0/10
Creye are yet another relatively fresh, young outfit in the Scandinavian melodic rock and AOR pomp revival scene. Back in 2018, their debut »I« already showed off their songwriting chops: a knack for repackaging a much-reheated soup that, in this day and age, can’t really say much that’s new.
Creye have a strong focus that can be seriously convincing. The engine driving it is the sextet’s fire and ambition. Sonically, you can quickly slot them in alongside fellow Scandinavian revivalists like Houston, Work of Art, One Desire or Palace, and also the (internationally mixed) Lionville. The band also has a new singer on this album. That’s August Rauer, and his tone fits the band’s approach to songwriting like a glove.
On »II«, Creye have taken another important step toward real songwriting maturity, and the new album shows it. The heavy predictability that marks the whole record is a necessary evil when you’re hanging out with the AOR tradition of the eighties, but that’s how it goes. Still, the packaging is cleverly recycled and served up again in a way that wins you over across the board. Especially in the moments that carry more melancholic drama theater in chasing bombastic chorus hooks, like the opener Broken Highway, or especially the mystically soaring, standout track of the album, Siberia, and then later on in songs like Can’t Stop What We Started or Lost Without You. Given its grabby, hook-heavy chorus, Carry On could easily have landed on one of the Work of Art albums. But there are also tracks on the album that pull the rug out from under it. They sit mostly in the second half, where Creye push the clichés too far to the front. That goes for the run of the last four songs: Let the World Know, Closer, The Greatest and War of Love. As a result, the album kind of »sinks« toward the end. That’s why the first part of the album, with compositions whose recycling is far more effective and convincing, reaches a higher level of expression.
»II« is definitely a record that brings nothing new to the scene. It’s a nice effort from a new band that clearly enjoys what it does, delivering a quality, AOR-inspired melodic rock album on which Creye have matured into a new level of confidence. With »II«, Creye are far from having said their last word. They’re a band that hasn’t hit its creative peak yet, but is well on its way there. It doesn’t lack much. Two more studio albums, tops.
Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Track list:
August Rauer – vocals
Andreas Gullstrand – guitar
Fredrik Joakimsson – guitar
Joel Selsfors – keyboards
Gustaf Örsta – bass guitar
Arvid Filipsson – drums
