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Artist: Crash The System |
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Crash
The System is a project that came about as a collaboration between Sören
Kronqvist and Daniel Flores in the fall of 2008, but this project is
something special as the pair have enlisted the cream of Sweden’s rock
vocalists for this album with Göran Edman (Ex-Yngwie Malmsteen, John
Norum, Brazen Abbot, etc), Mats Levén (Ex-Yngwie Malmsteen, Infinite
Mass, etc), Thomas Vikström
(Ex-Talk Of The Town, Candlemass, etc) and Björn Jansson (Ex-Ride The
Sky, Tears Of Anger,etc). Flores himself performs on the drums,
guitars, bass, keyboards, strings and backing vocals, with Kronqvist on
keyboards, rhythm guitars and bass.
Not only do the pair bring forth the best vocals Sweden has produced,
but also class line-up of additional musicians, with additional guitars
from Johan Niemann, Daniel Palmqvist, Manuel Lewys, additional keyboards
by Andreas Lindahl and additional
backing vocals by Angelica Rylin. Phew! So
on to the album, well with a vocal line-up like the above, the mouth had
already started watering in anticipation of what was to come from the
album and believe me the world of Melodic/Hard Rock is in for real treat
when word gets round about how great this album is. Things
get underway with ‘Fight Fire With Fire’ and instantly the sheer
class of this album is felt. Right from the beginning this track
had such an impact, that I knew that this was gonna be a great album and
my lord I wasn’t wrong! This Hard Rock opener is sheer bliss to
the ears with some great guitar licks and superb vocals courtesy of Göran
Edman. This
classy album continues in with the excellent solid ball of rock that is
‘All Because Of You’ and that wealth of quality is here again in
buckets. This time we see Mats Levén taking up the vocal duties
on this song. While the vocals are great on this album, you have
to admire the musicianship in equal quantities as Flores and Kronqvist
have written a truly great score for this album. Things
continue with ‘I Still Believe In Love’, this time featuring more of
that familiar Melodic Rock sound, with some great guitar work and a
solid backbone rhythm section that really showcases another great song.
As I listen to the album for the umpteenth time I just can't fault any
track, it's just killer track after killer track. The tempo just
slows down a touch with the first ballad of the album ‘Love Is In Your
Eyes’ and one that shows that Flores and Kronqvist have their heads
firmly screwed on when it comes to contemporary hard rock. They
also they have an ear for a great ballad and this is one hell of ballad. The
album returns to the rockier side of things with ‘Take A Chance’,
with a little progressive metal for this one. Again the
musicianship is exceptional as well as the mighty powerful vocals. With
thirteen tracks on one album you’d expect maybe one that doesn’t hit
the mark, but on this album every one is just superb. This album's
strength is in the quality of song and music, so
hats off to Flores and Kronqvist for a job done superbly. ‘Enough
Of Your Lovin’ is pure Melodic heaven, whilst ‘Mysterious’ is more
AOR orientated, hinting more towards a Journey-esque path.
‘Angel Of My Heart’ keeps the old school flag flying and for those
who just love a power ballad there’s ‘Rolling Stone’. If
I had to pick just one favourite track from this album then the next
song would be a very strong contender. That song is ‘Don’t
Tell Me Lies’, although this isn’t going to happen because to pick
just one track wouldn’t be respectful to this album, as each track has
something magical about it, and that’s what makes this one hell of an
album. It's not finished yet though as we move on to ‘Broken Glass’, where we get a chance to become a little groove filled, before arriving at ‘Higher And Higher’, which is just ear candy. The album closes with ‘Without Chances’ and I tell you what, this song is just magnificent and those soulful vocals of Björn Jansson bring to close one of the best Melodic/AOR/Hard Rock albums I’ve heard this year.
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| Tracklisting:
1. Fight Fire With
Fire |
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All content copyright of The Mayfair Mall Zine unless otherwise stated. |
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