Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Stone Orange
Label: Street Symphonies Records
Release: 2013
Length: 38:49
Rating: 4/5
Stone Orange, Slovenian hard rockers, are finally back with a proper new full-length studio record, after six dry years since their debut »Nori mlin« came out. The band has always shown great breakout potential, mostly thanks to its driving force: the charismatic leader, vocalist and guitarist Marko Erjavec. Heaven knows what caused the long wait for the band’s second album, and why they haven’t been more active on the scene.
However you slice it, the guys approached the new album with serious maturity. They sweated every detail and kept polishing until they felt it stood on solid ground. Six years between two studio releases is no short stretch, and in that time the guys have grown as musicians and the vision of what they want has become clear. The first novelty is that the songs are sung entirely in English, which suits their musical style and expressive character down to the ground. That style draws from the treasure chest of the hard rock school of the late eighties and early nineties, when bands like Bonfire, Hardline, Ratt,… were thriving all over the planet. If we’re splitting hairs, Stone Orange sound, in shades, closer to the Central European hard rock tradition, led by bands like Bonfire, Frontline, Casanova, Jaded Heart, China, etc… than to the Scandinavian, British or American one.
The band has brought in a new drummer, Vid Zgonc, who has added even more rhythmic tightness and punch to the revamped Stone Orange, and that of course shows in the material on the new record. The production has also been seriously upgraded and modernized. It catches just the right amount of liveliness, and the building blocks of the sound are nicely balanced in the coloring of the sonic picture. Marko has stepped up as a vocalist and laid down the vocals for the new album with remarkable confidence and an authoritative edge. He sounds determined, self-assured, devoted, and at the same time brings that much-needed dose of darkness that deepens the sheer drama theater of the songs, especially in those where the lead guitar phrase and melody develop in a minor key (Pride And Pain, Scare Me, Whites Of Their Eyes). The voice has grown in the power it pours into the melody, and it sounds lived-in and passionate too. The verses are also cut very well into the melodies, rhythm-wise. Some songs run parallel to the glam metal style of the second half of the eighties. Such are the "party time" opener Broken Man, Lovetrone in the second half of the album, and Rockin’ & Rollin’ hits the spot particularly well on that front. Between verse and chorus there’s usually a pre-chorus, an effective element for gradually building the mood that peaks in the chorus melodies. Compared to the predecessor, the band now also colors the lead vocal much more effectively with a layer of harmonic backing melodies, which works a treat in deepening the atmosphere within the choruses.
By and large, the album is a nicely rounded, exemplarily defined hard rock body of nine songs, sensibly closed, after the excellent Whites Of Their Eyes, by the mystically gazing instrumental Frozen Sky. The last song on the album, The Age Of Stars, is deliberately placed at the very tail end of the record, since it’s dressed in acoustic arrangements and so strays a little from the otherwise stylistically uniform rest of the album. It’s also where Marko’s voice sparkles in a slightly different light, as the song highlights above all the sensual side of his vocal interpretation (in how he delivers emotion).
There’s really only one remark worth making, and even that is fleeting and not a big deal. The band uses two guitars. While the riffs are convincingly shaped and confidently build the frameworks of the songs, there’s a nagging feeling that the room for a rush of solo escapades in the instrumental (middle-eight) parts is underused. The implementation of guitar ornaments in the transitional passages is effectively defined, though, which is further proof of the band’s great effort in polishing the final product. Given that there are two guitarists in the lineup, you’d expect the solos to be split into several parts, or at least one of the two guitars to take over the job of delivering the more demanding improvisations. The standard of solos in rock and metal on the international scene has jumped sharply in quality, especially in the last decade. When it comes to polishing solo inserts, Stone Orange still have a nice chunk of untapped reserves down the road, which are worth exploiting with fresh ideas to add even more color to their original music.
It’s an album that oozes echoes of the golden age of the eighties while placing itself effectively in the current sound of modern times, thanks to an excellent, modern-sounding production with lively dynamics. Sadly, I fear, as we’re used to in Slovenia whenever a more-than-decent hard rock album (by any artist) comes out, that this one will slip quietly past the masses and not get the recognition and respect it deserves. I sincerely hope I’m wrong.
Otherwise, »The Dreamcatcher« brings a rock-solid leap in the band’s maturity, in compositional development and in defining a sound recognizably their own. Sure, Stone Orange aren’t reinventing the wheel within the genre mold, but you can feel the genuine fire with which they approached the new material in the studio. Considering the raw ambition, and at times the naivety, of its predecessor »Nori mlin«, »The Dreamcathcer« is an album Stone Orange can rightfully be proud of. It gives them real springboards of songwriting credibility to keep building on and feeding their musical creativity, unbridled. One question remains: why is the band still less visible on the scene to this day? Vocalist Marko’s charisma alone is outstanding, and I believe the guy could credibly and confidently try his luck as a solo artist already. »The Dreamcatcher« is a record that rises above the average hard rock releases from Slovenian acts of the new millennium, raises the quality bar for Slovenian hard rock, and is therefore worth the full attention of true rock devotees. Needless to say, this is an album that could open doors abroad for Stone Orange too!
Lineup
Marko Erjavec – vocals, guitar, keyboards on tracks 3 and 9, backing vocals
Tomo Jurca – guitar
Davorin Kovačič – bass guitar, backing vocals
Vid Zgonc – drums
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Matej Mršnik – acoustic guitar on track 11
Bor Zgonc – acoustic guitar on track 5, backing vocals
Miha Gorše – keyboards on tracks 2, 5, 7, and 11
Dejan Radičevič – keyboards on tracks 3, 6 and 10
Simon Simčič – backing vocals
Production
Dejan Radičevič
Tracklist
1. Broken Man
2. I Am (Whatever)
3. Pride And Pain
4. Rockin’ & Rollin’
5. it Keeps On Raining
6. Lovetron
7. Scare Me
8. Nobody Cares
9. Whites Of Their Eyes
10. Frozen Sky
11. The Age Of Stars
