|
Artist: Firecracker |
|
|
Firecracker
are a band that was started off by Stefan Lindholm of Vindictiv fame way
before Vindictiv even saw the light of day. Lindholm started this band
by getting in contact with keyboard maestro Pontus Larsson, and
together with bass player Fredrik Folkare and drummer Hasse Worzel, the
initial band was formed, although it wasn’t until Seventh Wonder vocalist
Tommy Karevik joined the quartet that the final piece of the Firecracker
puzzle was put into place. This
album is seen as the predecessor to Lindholm’s Victictiv albums and
shows that from the onset the basic foundation for Victictiv was there
in the form of Firecracker. The
album mixes Lindholm’s excellent guitar skills with Larsson’s
fantastic keyboards, on an album full of progressive elements mixed with
towering melodies, with some notable highs on an album that may only be
eight tracks long, but each track is a real gem. The
high of the album apart from the sheer class of the musicianship of
everyone involved, would have to be the tracks like the opener ‘Blind
Date’, which Lindholm gets going with some stunning guitar work, while backed
to the hilt with the splendid backing of Worzel and Folkare. But it’s
when Karevik brings his vocals into the mix that the track really takes
hold and keeps your attention right until the last note. ‘Second
Self’ is another track of note, which again sees Lindholm ignite those six strings
from the off, but it's Karevik’s vocals that tower above it all and
bring grace and power to the piece, along with the stirring keyboards of
Larsson. Another
great track that defines the whole album for me is 'Instru (metal)’.
Even this instrumental piece shows what was to come with Vindictiv, the
soaring keyboards and majestic guitars are a thing of beauty and ear
candy to any fan of progressive metal. If
stunning vocals is what you want then go no further than ‘The
Refrain’, Karevik is simply outstanding on this one. A real challenging
song for any vocalist with a lot of tempo changes but Karevik carries it
off really well. These are just a few
of the stand out tracks for me, and although Karevik didn’t remain
with the band when it became Vindictiv, Goran Edman along with Nalle Pahlsson
and Mikael Wikman took over the vocals for the first Vindictiv album.
However, this is still a worth while release to get your mitts on if you loved
that album and it's also a good album to compare the two Vindictiv albums too,
as you get to see how Lindholm’s vision has evolved over the years. |
|
|
Tracklisting: 1.
Blind Date |
|
|
All content copyright of The Mayfair Mall Zine unless otherwise stated. |
|
