RELOAD – Hotter Than a Bullet
- by Matt Coe
- Posted on 15-04-2015
Another entry in the melodic hard rock scene, the Greek quintet Reload started in 2012 and releasing their debut album "Hotter than a Bullet". Gaining production support from Firewind’s Bob Katsionis, these 10 songs possess a lot of AOR/commercial slant, the guitar playing providing that hard rock spark while the main riffs and vocal melodies are conscious of natural hooks. Europe, Gotthard, H.E.A.T. and 80’s era Whitesnake seem to be the four acts that come to the forefront the most on tracks like "Superhero", the engaging "Longin’ For Your Love", and emotional power ballad "Prince of Steel".
Vocalist Kostas Tokas has an engaging, uplifting nature to his phrasing and delivery, keeping the energy and happiness flowing all the way to "Fight", the album’s concluding song. Glad to see that for all the years melodic, AOR oriented hard rock was looked at as passé or an 80’s arena phenomenon that in 2015 no one cares about classifications as long as the songs connect. Reload is a band to watch, and should have a thriving career based on this first record.