Artist: The Poodles  
   Title: Sweet Trade
   Label: AFM Records

Following on with the undoubted success of their debut release 'Metal Will Stand Tall', Swedes The Poodles show their career is more resolute than many thought and follow up the success of the debut with their new opus 'Sweet Trade'.  This their latest release see's the band go for a harder more rockier approach to the songs while still retaining the quality that made 'Metal Will Stand Tall' such a instant hit.

The band consisting of Jakob Samuels (vox), Pontus Norgren (guitar), Pontus Egberg (bass) and Christian Lundqvist (drums), have followed up their debut with a monster, with 35 songs to choose from the band have picked 12 hard rockers that will blow you away.

The album opens up with ‘Flesh And Blood’ and instantly the harder edged sound is here for all to hear and appreciate as the band show their unadulterated class from the off, with the pounding drums of Lundqvist leading the way for Samuels classy vocals on this anthemic opener.

The band keep things going with the excellent rocker ‘Streets of Fire’, which includes the now trademark orchestral background sound on this Power-Glam track with Norgren showing what a great virtuoso guitarist he is, this is a definite winner in my opinion.

The next track ‘Seven Seas’ I first heard when the band performed it live earlier in the year when I saw them with Krokus and Hammerfall.  I said then that if this song was a typical example of what was to come from the new album then I couldn’t wait to hear the rest, and all my expectations about this album were right. This is the first single to be taken off the album and was actually released in May of this year.  It still stands strong in the Swedish charts to this day, such is the draw of this band in their homeland.

‘Walk the Line’ picks up the pace once more as Norgren injects some old school metal guitars into the mix, with the pulsating rhythm section of Egberg and Lundqvist acting as a rear guard action and Samuels keeping it real and Poodles style with some stunning vocals.

The band bring a little eighties hard rock into the mix with the stunning ‘Thunderball’, another track on which Norgren really shines and Samuels reaching new highs vocally before the band turn back time with the very 80’s style rocker ‘Reach The Sky’.

After six hard rocking tracks the band bring things down a touch with the power-ballad ‘We Are One’.  This song shows the bands more mellower side, which was very apparent on ‘Metal Will Stand Tall’ and carries on through this very powerful song that is sure to have all those lighters raised high when performed live.

The more gentle rock is continued with ‘Without You’, this again shows the depth and quality of the song writing by the band and is sure to have all those critics who said the band were one album wonders eating their words.

The hard rocking returns with ‘Band Of Brothers’, the soaring melodies of ‘Heaven’s Closing In’ and the hard rocking splendour of ‘Kiss Goodbye’, before the album is wrapped up with the quite majestic ‘Shine’.

Those of you who thought 'Metal Will Stand Tall' was a good album will be totally blown away with 'Sweet Trade' as this album takes the band one step closer to superstardom such is the brilliance of this release. 

The album will be released in two different versions, first the 'regular' version and then the limited edition 'digi-pack' version which features the bonus track of the Jakob only version of 'Seven Seas'.  If you're a fan of the band it's well worth spending the extra money to get your mitts on this limited edition version of the release. 

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