Label: Frontiers Music Srl.
Release date: March 12, 2021
Production: Alessandro Del Vecchio
Album length: 46.59 min
Genre: Hard Rock/Melodic Rock
Rating: 8.0/10
Lately it feels like almost every second melodic rock or hard rock album you pick up has Ronnie Romero singing on it. A hugely in-demand and respected vocalist, he’s proven himself over and over in just a few years as the go-to fireman for tons of bands and projects. Even Richie Blackmore tapped into his fascinating vocal charisma when he revived Rainbow, there’s the CoreLeoni project, and Romero also jumped into Adrian Vandenberg’s camp for the latest Vandenberg album “2020”, not to mention the partnership with Magnus Karlsson in The Ferrymen, or Romero’s return to Lords of Black. And I’ve probably forgotten something. Now Romero has come to the rescue again, this time helping bring the half-forgotten Sunstorm project back to life. Frontiers Music Srl. launches a truly staggering number of side projects. Every year. There are few labels like that left today, with so many releases every month and that kind of consistency in pumping out new product on a monthly basis. Let’s be honest, though, the whole thing sometimes feels a bit forced, since quantity often wins out over quality.
Now, Sunstorm is one of those brainchilds that landed shortly after the start of the new millennium, which means there’s quite a bit of history behind it. It caught on well among fans of AOR and melodic rock, because that post-millennium AOR revival boom was sorely missed at the time, which doesn’t surprise anyone today. But that’s not all. The project burned itself into the minds of the genre’s faithful mostly thanks to one name: Joe Lynn Turner. This is the guy who sang for Rainbow and Deep Purple, and for Yngwie J. Malmsteen, put out two albums with Glenn Hughes, and so on… He can also boast a fine crop of fascinating solo achievements. Well, the label opening up the old archives rubbed salt in Turner’s wounds, since the people in charge deliberately steered around the legendary musician and, for the restart of the project, brought in current Rainbow singer Ronnie Romero. No need to guess that Turner didn’t take this lightly. He’s unloaded quite a lot of anger in recent interviews at the label’s biased decisions. And honestly, the guy has a point. Sunstorm is a project best known for the fact that Joe Lynn Turner has always sung on its albums. That’s how it will stay, no matter how golden the voice of Romero, who’s putting out the fire this time.
Anyway, if we focus on the music, meaning the music of the new album “Afterlife”, there’s no Einstein to discover here. The Frontiers Records in-house producer, multi-instrumentalist, composer and, when needed, lead vocalist, Alessandro Del Vecchio, has once again shouldered most of the work around reviving the project. And once again he’s shown an incredible knack for the art of recycling ideas.
Romero absolutely rules every single moment with his new, seriously fascinating vocal performance. His voice, which “studied” under big names like Ronnie James Dio and David Coverdale, once again reminds us in certain parts of the album that it can even get closest to the late Steve Lee (Gotthard). One Step Closer is a case in point. That incredibly piercing, passionate and gripping approach is the main element of “Afterlife” that keeps the listener hooked. Even though the project could easily have been renamed, since the energy is different enough without Turner that it would be totally justified, the songwriting mold has stayed pretty much unchanged. Romero doesn’t force himself into the lines by straining his vocal cords, either. He also goes for a clean approach, which fits beautifully in Swan Song. Del Vecchio is an exceptionally experienced and seasoned old fox. There are few hired guns like him who can write and compose music to order and still be this convincing. And almost always. It’s hard for them to slip up. This time, too, Del Vecchio did a top-notch job. “Afterlife” gives you that grateful feeling as if the lockdown had never happened. That, too, can be hidden extremely skillfully in the studio. Of course, it’s not all about the production, clicking and pasting. You also need a proper garrison of musicians. The guitar is obviously a hugely important factor in this situation. A guitar that learns from aces like Reb Beach, Douglas Aldrich and the like. It’s all present and ravenous in every moment. Whether in sharpened phrases or fascinating solos that show off incredible schooled discipline, which is practically mandatory on albums like this.
The album will satisfy fans of past Sunstorm albums, though of course it brings a departure that isn’t necessarily welcome, since it’s based on a change of singer. Turner remains missed, one way or another. In the songwriting you can feel it again, that cunning “theft” of ideas and tricks from the old-school seventies hard rock founded by Deep Purple, Rainbow and Whitesnake, which the opening title track and the closing A Story That You Can Tell hint at with probably the most theatrics. Del Vecchio, after all, once again backed some of the arrangements with the sound of Hammond organs. Either way, “Afterlife” is a very high-quality, well-packaged product of recycling, carried out by seasoned players. If this were the project’s first album, the ratings would be really high. As it is, it delivers content that was expected. Fans of hard rock and melodic rock, with sharply honed AOR-style choruses, will be satisfied once again.
Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Tracklist:
1. Afterlife
2. One Step Closet
3. Swan Song
4. Born Again
5. Stronger
6. I Found A Way
7. Lost Forever
8. Far From Over
9. Here For You Tonight
10. Darkest Night
11. A Story That You Can Tell
Lineup:
Ronnie Romero – vocals
Simone Mularoni – guitar
Alessandro Del Vecchio – keyboards, backing vocals
Nik Mazzucconi – bass
Michele Sanna – drums
