Label: Frontiers Music Srl.
Release date: March 11, 2022
Production: Jona Tee
Album length: 49.41 min
Genre: Power Metal
Rating: 8.0/10
New Horizon is a new music project fronted by two former members of H.E.A.T, Jona Tee and Erik Grönwall. Grönwall is one hell of a vocalist. His range isn’t just incredible, he also packs outstanding vocal power and a wrecking-ball quality. He’s definitely one of the most penetrating, distinctive voices on the melodic metal and melodic rock scene right now. Wherever you put him, Grönwall plays you a winning poker hand of aces. He recently joined Skid Row as the fourth singer of the glam metal sensation of the (long dead and buried) eighties. Jona Tee takes on the role of main songwriter, and on top of the keyboards he also contributed all the bass lines and rhythm guitars, handled the production, and dressed everything up with extra vocal lines and other niceties. The result is a kind of crossbreed between what these two did in H.E.A.T. and elements of European power metal.
Yes. That can be a double-edged, maybe even ‘triple-edged’ sword. Well, to some extent at least. While we hear nothing new – which was to be expected – the production is deliberately a bit unpolished, which is a surprise given the typical Swedish approach to power metal. I’m talking especially about the guitars, which can keep a distinctly ‘German’ snarl in the mix. Not always. But occasionally the two guys leave more room for the guitar phrase, as directly hinted at in Cry For Freedom, which comes off ‘stiff and Swabian’. The keyboards get ‘thin’ and inferior in moments like that. As if some old heavy uncles like Grave Digger were doing it, only less successfully. A really punchy phrase on the album turns up in Stronger Than Steel, which cements the album’s ossified allegiance to Euro power metal. But with his vocal musicality, Grönwall is always a guarantee of high-flying melodies that grab you instantly. Stronger Than Steel, which the project also released as a single, counts as one of the album’s more impressive achievements.
Opening track We Unite wanted to capture as much pomp as possible. In one place. That’s why it’s overdone. Say you cross H.E.A.T. and Firewind. It was very much eyeballed. The bombastic musical frills of the chorus are so pronounced that they drag the melody at times toward a verse of the eighties pop hit What A Feeling (orig. Irene Cara, the song from the film ‘Flashdance’). Knowingly or not, both guys are big devotees of the eighties pop legacy. As far as Swedish musicians go, they’re by no means the only ones, starting with Mikael Akerfeldt (Opeth). On the album we also find moments that carry more of H.E.A.T.’s musical direction and the principles of the Swedish hard rock legacy (220 Volt, Treat, Europe,…), as hinted especially in the chorus of Call of the Underground. In these parts the keyboards and keyboard arrangements are also tighter in the mix, and in such songs Tee certainly doesn’t fall short on guitar solos either, as he enters into duels with them on the keys. Of course, you can’t avoid moments that lean more toward the clichéd. Stardust, for example, has such a predictable chorus. But it’s clear where all this musicality comes from. You have to be a friend of eighties pop. Scandinavians are right at home here. Always when it’s time to repackage that musicality into heavier sonic structures. Stardust gets ‘pulled out’ by a mid eight passage that opens up very cleverly. With a neo-classical transition on the keys and an excellent modulation that shakes up the song’s predictability before it drops into the final chorus. An association with Manowar also shows up (The End Of All), where Manowar of the last twenty years, or since Ross left, would ‘kill’ for the tune of the lead chorus idea (vocal harmonies). It’s precisely because of the exceptionally well-executed chorus that this track is one of the highlights of New Horizon’s power metal on the album.
Well, the album’s main highlight comes with its closing track. The title track. In terms of songwriting commitment, it’s the most convincing ‘blast’ back to the golden age of European power metal from twenty years ago. Nostalgic to the bone. Definitely a peak when it comes to the development of pomp and drama theater too. Build-up of motifs.
A crop of guest guitarists also pitches in on the album, and they don’t hold back on escapades of guitar rally with colorful, soloistic twists and turns. Among them Sam Totman (Dragonforce), Dave Dalone (H.E.A.T.), Niko Vuorela (temple Balls) and Love Magnusson (Dynazty).
In short: the move came off rather nicely. Grönwall is the pointer on the scale that tips it. With his striking presence he largely steers the listener’s attention away from the generic songwriting template that power metal, after all these years, simply can’t escape. That’s why this reunion of two good old H.E.A.T. companions on this album works well and is still interesting enough.
Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Track list:
1. A New Horizon (Intro)
2. We Unite
3. Stronger Than Steel
4. Cry For Freedom
5. Call Of The Underground
6. Stardust
7. Event Horizon
8. The End Of All
9. Fearless
10. Gate Of The Gods
Lineup:
Erik Grönwall – vocals
Jona Tee – keyboards, bass guitar, guitar, backing vocals
Guest musicians:
Sam Totman – guitar solos
Love Magnusson – guitar solos
Dave Dalone – guitar solos
Niko Vuorela – guitar solos
Laucha Figueroa – guitar solos
Robban Bäck – drums
Zelo dobra recenzija.
Zdaj mu bo uspelo tudi v Ameriki, kar si s svojim glasom in sončno osebnostjo tudi zasluži. 🙂