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Artist: Pretty Maids |
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Well it's been four years since the last Pretty Maids album but believe me the Danes have come out fighting with what has to be the bands best album to date in 'Pandemonium'. This is a power album that highlights perfectly that band have the gonads to go up against the best in the Hard Rock and Heavy Metal world. The band feature Ronnie Atkins at his primeval best vocally and Ken Hammer just electrifying on the six string. Joining them are Kenn Jackson and Allan Tschicaja plus new guy Morten Sandager adding a touch of class on the keyboards. The album opens up with the title track ‘Pandermonium’ and from this point on the band take no prisoners. This is just a stunning opener with the vocals and guitars pumping out some massive Heavy Metal, the likes of which I haven’t heard since Primal Fears '16.6', such is the power that the band deliver from the off. This mighty metal punchy sound is carried on with the second track ‘I.N.V.U.’, again Atkins vocals are just fantastic while Hammer makes the guitar sing, but this album isn’t just about awe inspiring heavy metal, it's also about matching the metal with melodic overtones. This is shown as early as track three with the anthemic ‘Little Drops Of Heaven’, which is just superb and one of my many favourites from the album. The standout feature being Atkins vocals which shine through the soaring rhythm section and fantastic keyboards, while Hammer shows that he still has more fire in his fingertips than most of the newby guitarists put together. This tremendous album continues again delving into the more heavier melodic vibe with ‘One World One Truth’, before really pushing the boundaries of the Pretty Maids sound with ‘Final Day Of Innocence’. A really classy modern rock track that will appeal to both the die hard fans and the younger crowd who are new to the band. The
band turn up the heat big time as they bring the big guns with ‘Cielo
Drive’, which brings a little power metal to the mix with anthemic
guitars, monster drums and thumping bass lines all wrapped around the
massive vocals of Atkins. The
full on driven metal is never more at its peak than on my favourite
track off the album, the fantastic bass thumping metal of ‘It Comes At
Night’. This one has to played as loud as your ears can take to really
feel the metal pumping through your veins. One of the best Pretty Maids
tracks of all time for me. Things
slow down just a touch with another excellent slice of melody enthused
metal with ‘Old Enough To Know’. If there was ever such a
thing as a Metal Ballad
then this one is it. Again
it's the bombastic bass lines of Jackson that ignite the next track
‘Beautiful Madness’, which leads nicely into another favourite of
mine ( I told you I had many!), the majestic melodic ‘Breathless’,
which rounds up the main album. But things don’t finish there the
album includes a remix version of ‘It Comes At Night’, where
the band put a little darker power metal spin on the original version.
This wraps up what is without a doubt thee best Pretty Maids albums of
all time and an album that will appeal to both the bands fans and fans
of great heavy metal and hard rock. Let's hope a UK tour or at least a few
dates later this year follow because this album deserves to be played
live. It’s a metal monster so let the 'Pandemonium' begin! |
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Track
Listing: 01.
Pandemonium
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