Finland’s BLADE are an interesting band that seem to have several dimensions to their sound. At their core they’re playing Melodic Hard Rock, but they have the ability to switch gears from song to song to take the listener on an journey that keeps you guessing.
Perhaps the closest comparisons I can come up with is UK’s THUNDER, who can rock it out but also get quite serious as well. BLADE does the same thing here, there’s strait up party tunes like “Never Stop Rocking” and “Hot And Wired”, but then the turn around with songs that have more of a U2 feel in tracks like “Burning Eyes” and “My Demons”.
Generally I would gravitate towards the strait up rockin’ stuff but I’m more intrigued by the their more introspective material. My guess is that the band has a diverse set of influences including singer Pepe Tamminen, who really reminds me of 80’s singers from the New Wave and Pop genres.
They have a softer side too with a nice ballad “Alone” and another “Column Of Fire” that’s a bit more mid-tempo. There’s also a cover and rocked up version of Michael Sembello’s “Maniac” to round out the album.
One of the biggest highlights of the album is actually the production. This sounds like a major production. Very crisp and clean but modern as well, its sounds like a major label production.
Overall I’m intrigued by the band. I don’t think the cover and band name quite give you the full perspective about what the band is about. I’m hopeful for the future, we need more bands like this who keep the traditional rock alive, but put their own twist on it to create something fresh.
Pepe Tamminen (Vocals), Pekka Viljanen (Guitar), Jaakko Paljakka (Guitar), Janne Viljakainen (Bass and Keyboards), Henrik Hyöppönen (Drums)
