The skilled melodic rockers from Sweden known as Arctic Rain released this eleven-track effort via Frontiers quite recently and offer energetic hard rock packed with radio-friendly choruses. There are power chords and feel-good rockers aplenty here, but the sound is not quite as slick as that of many of their label mates, which is great. There is something about “The One” that oozes pure joy and it sounds as if these guys had a ball recording these songs, but nothing is reinvented here and there is not enough to truly dazzle the listener. Having said that, there is much to recommend it, and if you are on the lookout for arena-pleasers, good hooks, and ear-worming melodies that you can both shout and dance to, Arctic Rain might just be something that you ought to look into.

 

Some tracks are a tad forgettable and steeped in clichés, but there are some real strong tunes in the shape of the atmospheric “Night After Night”, the infectiously catchy “Free My Mind”, and the melodically gorgeous title track to be enjoyed here. Again, this is not one for the history books, but you should nevertheless give this uplifting disc a few spins sometime, okay? Overall, this is an enjoyable listen

 

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