Primal Fear guitarist Magnus Karlsson has certainly kept himself busy outside of his main band, with his involvement in other projects such as Allen/Lande, Starbreaker, Kiske/Sommerville, and Bob Catley making sure he's always totally immersed on one production or another at all times. His solo band Free Fall along with drummer Jaime Salazar allows for an all-star cast of vocalists to join in on the fun, and the two have a great line-up here to help flesh out another batch of anthemic melodic rock, power metal, and AOR styled songs.
The great Jorn Lande lends his superhuman voice to the crunchy title track, a soaring anthem which kicks off this album in high gear. Former Rainbow/Deep Purple/Yngwie Malmsteen legend Joe Lynn Turner sounds spectacular on the catchy yet guitar driven "No Control", while former Black Sabbath belter Tony Martin is unmistakable on the dark, menacing, and somewhat doomy "When the Sky Falls". Pink Cream 69/Voodoo Circle frontman David Readman soars with his gutsy delivery on the heavy "Angel of the Night", and Karlsson himself does all the heavy lifting himself on both "I Am Coming for You" and "Walk This Road Alone", two hook laden melodic rock numbers that show the guitarist has some pretty good pipes of his own. Mastermind singer Rick Altzi injects his 'Lande-meets-Readman' styled vocals to the symphonic prog-metal number "Another Life", and the always dependable Tony Harnell (Skid Row/TNT) brings a more subtle, softer touch to the poppy "Never Look Away". Harem Scarem's Harry Hess delivers a great performance on the memorable "A Heart So Cold", a wild mix of addicting pop and massive heavy metal guitars.
Great hooks everywhere on Kingdom of Rock, along with scorching guitar solos, crunchy riffs, orchestral keyboards, and all-star vocals. Karlsson handles all the guitars, bass, and keyboards, and with his impressive vocals on the two tracks mentioned above, I'm sure if he wanted to he could have done all that himself as well. The much traveled Salazar is rock solid as always, his drumming style a perfect fit for this style of music. Overall, a fun, enjoyable album of catchy melodic rock and metal from a musician who always delivers classy product.
Track Listing
01.Kingdom of Rock (Jorn Lande, vocals)
02.Out of the Dark (Jakob Samuel, vocals)
03.No Control (Joe Lynn Turner, vocals)
04.When the Sky Falls (Tony Martin, vocals)
05.Angel of the Night (David Readman, vocals)
06.I Am Coming For You (Magnus Karlsson, vocals)
07.Another Life (Rick Altzi, vocals)
08.Never Look Away (Tony Harnell, vocals)
09.A Heart So Cold (Harry Hess, vocals)
10.The Right Moment (Rebecca De La Motte, vocals)
11.Walk This Road Alone (Magnus Karlsson, vocals)
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