Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Jorn
Label: Frontiers Records
Release: 2017
Runtime: 65:59
Rating: 4/5
Jorn Lande is a superb vocalist, no doubt about it. His golden pipes are the backbone of the unquestionable quality that defines the albums, not just from his career with the band Jorn, but from a whole pile of other acts Lande has lent his velvety, warm and seductively gravel-edged voice to, a voice that regularly (and immodestly) gets him compared to Ronnie James Dio and David Coverdale.
For the new album »Life On Death Road«, Jorn Lande has completely overhauled the cast of musicians in his band Jorn. Only Jorn Lande himself (logically) remains, joined by players who boast a pedigree of serious international standing, at least as far as the old European continent goes.
Jorn have picked up no fewer than three members of German power metallers Primal Fear: Alex Beyrodt and Mat Sinner, old buddies from the Sinner days who now also team up in Beyrodt’s hard rock outfit Voodoo Circle. Keyboardist Alessandro Del Vecchio is a member of Hardline, while drummer Francesco Jovino played in U.D.O. before joining Primal Fear, and, just like Del Vecchio, is now a full member of the revamped Hardline lineup.
So what should you expect from »Life on Death Road«? Judging by Jorn’s previous releases, it’s the most musical album of his long-running career. Which means that, with his new and outstanding vocal performance thrown in, the sound has shifted stylistically closer to… guess what? You got it. Whitesnake. But with European production in the Mat Sinner mold along for the ride, the new Jorn album sounds closest to what Voodoo Circle do, and more than once it also brushes up against what Primal Fear started working into their sound, especially after 2007.
»Life on Death Road« is a very high-quality record. Despite a staked-out songwriting format and Lande’s already familiar vocal show, which once again sounds top-notch, the album delivers a run of rhythmically and thematically varied songs plus another excellent solo outing from Mr. »Sad Owl«, that is, the brilliant guitarist Alex Beyrodt. This time around, Lande has an extremely seasoned crew of musicians in the studio, guys who know exactly how to set up a hook to squeeze out the maximum melody and make it instantly catchy on first listen. That’s why »Life on Death Road« sticks to proven, »purely« tuneful musical lines that also suit Lande down to the ground, letting him unfold his (expected, and by now practically demanded) vocal best on the album.
A lovely album that happily saved Lande’s skin and bought Voodoo Circle some time, since instead of rushing to Lande’s aid on the recording of the new Jorn album, they could have put out their own new studio album. Breaks are always useful, and it’s also clear that Lande could swap places with David Readman at Voodoo Circle at any moment (or vice versa, in which case Jorn could rename themselves Readman, or just stay Voodoo Circle, ahhhh… now we’re deep into »sausage« territory). In short: this album will please not only Jorn’s followers but also a wider range of fans of the bands named earlier in this review.
Jorn – Fire to the Sun (official video):
Line-up
Jorn Lande – vocals, backing vocals
Mat Sinner – bass
Alex Beyrodt – guitar
Alessandro Del Vecchio – keyboards
Francesco Jovino – drums
Production
Mat Sinner
Track list
1. Life On Death Road
2. Hammered To The Cross (The Business)
3. Love Is The Remedy
4. Dreamwalker
5. Fire To The Sun
6. Insoluble Maze (Dreams In The Blindness)
7. I Walked Away
8. The Slippery Slope (Hangman’s Rope)
9. Devil You Can Drive
10. The Optimist
11. Man Of The 80’s
12. Blackbirds
