Tag Archives: melodic rock

Alt-rock: album review – Vinyl Floor ‘Balancing Act’

Balancing Act is the sixth album from Danish alt-rock outfit, Vinyl Floor. Built around the nucleus of multi-instrumentalist brothers, Charlie and Daniel Pederson, the duo handle most of the musical duties themselves but expand their sound with some carefully-chosen guest musicians. The emphasis is firmly on catchy melodies and vibrant musical textures, with an array of strings, horns and vintage-sounding keyboards enriching the basic guitar-drums-bass indie-rock template.

Vinyl Floor: “Balancing Act is about trying to balance life and searching for beauty and meaning in a world full of chaos, treason,  insecurity and false promises. A world which itself currently seems out of balance.”

That’s a balancing act many of us are trying to pull off, of course, with varying degrees of success but I will say that here the scales very much tip towards the side of optimism. There’s a warmth about this album that undoubtedly puts one in a better mood for having listening to it.

Appearing alongside the Pederson brothers are the Swedish multi-instrumentalist Bebe Risenfors (whose CV includes work with Tom Waits and Elvis Costello) on horns and upright bass; Danish classical musician, Christian Ellegaard (who is a member of the national Danish Symphony Orchestra) on strings; and guitarist Daniel Hecht (of the Danish hard rock band, Franklin Zoo) who contributes additional guitar on a couple of tracks.

Intelligent indie rock with gorgeous sounds, lush harmonies and great hooks, Balancing Act grapples with contemporary angst with a firm nod to vintage pop-rock and in the process creates something that’s both satisfying and uplifting.

Released: 27 February 2026 https://www.facebook.com/vinylfloorband

Related post:

Album review – Thomas Charlie Pederson ‘Daylight Saving Hours’

New album from Ronnie Romero-fronted melodic metal trio The Ferrymen

The Ferrymen are a melodic metal outfit fronted by Ronnie Romero who was hand-picked by Ritchie Blackmore for the latest revival of the Rainbow franchise a few years ago. Following up their 2017 self-titled debut and 2019’s A New Evil (reviewed here) the band have announced a new album out in January One More River To Cross. Meanwhile, they’ve kicked things off with the release of a brand new single ‘One Word’.

Delivering their own brand of melodic power metal, The Ferrymen were formed by Swedish guitarist/songwriter/producer Magnus Karlsson (Primal Fear, Allen/Lande, Magnus Karlsson’s Free Fall), singer Ronnie Romero (Lords of Black, Sunstorm, Rainbow) and drummer Mike Terrana (Rage, Axel Rudi Pell, etc).

The Ferrymen’s One More River To Cross is released by Frontiers on 21st January 2022.

Cover artwork is once again provided courtesy of Stan W. Decker.

facebook.com/theferrymenofficial

Album review: The Ferrymen – A New Evil

Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow at Birmingham 2017

Melodic rock: album review ‘Revertigo’

This was review was originally published by Get Ready To Rock here

Revertigo is a Swedish duo comprising Mats Levén on vocals (Therion, Candlemass, Yngwie Malmsteen) and Anders Wikström (Treat) on guitar. Long-term friends and occasional collaborators Revertigo is the name of their new project together. The duo play all the instruments on the album apart from drums, where Thomas Broman (Great King Rat, Michael Schenker, Electric Boys) does the honours.

“Mats and I always had an idea of creating something that would celebrate the fact that we really enjoy working together, but with busy separate music careers, it wasn‘t until 2016, we sat down and concentrated on new songs with a firm plan,” said Anders in launching the album.

The eponymously-titled album is a classic slice of melodic hard rock. The opening track ‘Hoodwinked’ is all big riffs, catchy choruses and beautifully-constructed solos and begins the album in fine form. The powerfully rhythmic ‘Symphony of Fallen Angels’ is another highlight as are the power ballad ‘Unobtanium’ and the anthemic ‘Breakaway’.

The production is polished and strong melodies and memorable refrains reverberate throughout the album. It retains a hard rock edge, however, and avoids slipping into overly-shiny, over-produced AOR territory. As Anders says, “We might not be reinventing the wheel, but we’re certainly putting on fresh tyres.”

There’s clearly a strong chemistry between the pair, both in terms of song-writing and playing, and anyone with a love of quality crafted melodic hard rock will enjoy Revertigo.

Released: 23rd February 2018 by Frontiers

https://www.facebook.com/ReVertigoOfficial/

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