From Sweden comes the band Stone Lake. It's tasty metal with a very retro 80's sort of feel. However, the band lineup is only the singer and guitarist who pretty much do everything on the CD. Given the amount of talented Swedish musicians over there, I felt that they could have at least recruited a couple of their friends to play the tracks on the CD. The group members are Peter Grundstrom (vocals) and Jan Akesson (guitars/programming). The use of the programming takes a little of the punch out in these tunes especially in the area of drums. They sounded too fake to me in that area. The tracks are definitely immersed in the poppy side of metal. Bands like Danger Danger and Warrant come to mind when listening to this piece.
I would have liked to hear more than two tracks but since this was all that was presented I have to choose "Only One Reason" as my favored track. The vocal style is similar to that of Tony Harnell (TNT) yet not as powerful in the higher register. I am also not sure of how useful it is to release something as a limited edition. It often makes more sense to achieve a very high critical acclaim before doing something like that and having it matter to the fans. Let us see what the future holds for the Lads. In a Country where Power, Progressive and Black Metal hold the banner, can an 80's feel group cut it? We shall see.
Track Listing
1. Stay Young And Free
2. Only One Reason
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