Founded by guitarist / songwriter Roland ”Rolli” Forsman early this year in Stockholm, Sweden, REMEDY is a sophisticated and modern melodic rock / AOR with a strong connection to the 80s but with an updated sound. Rolli is a veteran from the scene, had previously written songs for Joe Lynn Turner, One Desire and Crazy Lixx.
Driven by energetic guitars, smooth vocals, catchy melodies and anthemic choruses, REMEDY debut album ”Something That Your Eyes Won’t See” mixes the Scandinavian style for the genre similar to H.E.A.T, Kee Marcello, Osukaru, Creye, with British touches ala Chris Ousey’s Heartland, Lionheart, etc.
And what a debut it is! The Swedes have done it again. There’s a knack in that country to construct a wonderful balance of melodicism and power chords. If you like any of the bands from this region of the world, you now have another band to love.
Opening with ‘Living On The Edge’, the band kicks into high gear right out of the gate. A catchy, keyboard-drenched powerhouse of a track, it’s a song that I can easily see a band like H.E.A.T or Eclipse performing. Speaking of Eclipse, Roland was able to get their band leader Erik Mårtensson to mix and master the album, so you can assuredly hear some production similarities between the bands.
That opener is just the beginning. This album is drenched in melodic goodness. I’ll get straight to my favourite track, ‘Marilyn’. There has to be some type of scientific reason why a woman’s name with three syllables is so catchy in songs.
“Gloria”, “Amanda”, “Madelaine”, “Maryanne” and so many others have the perfect proportion of syllables to melody ratio which work so well when constructing a catchy anthem and that’s what you get here. A high-energy anthemic rocker. Picture gang vocals singing out the title of this track. What you would imagine it sounds like… is EXACTLY what it sounds like. Maybe a little conventional for the genre, but oh so effective.
Roland and his friend/writing partner Sören Kronqvist had previously written songs for Joe Lynn Turner, One Desire and Crazy Lixx, so they certainly know how to write incredibly melodies. Towards the end of the album, there’s the triple attack of ‘Thunder In The Dark’, ‘My Devil Within’, and ‘Sinners and Saints’.
All three are distinctly different rhythmically but all are powerful rockers that are in perfect sequencing, as the rhythm of each track accelerates from the song that preceded it. These are some of the catchiest choruses you are likely to hear from any band this year.
While I enjoyed most of the album tracks, it is not without its flaws. ‘Scream In Silence’ is my second favourite song, with solid lyrics about a never-ending nightmare. One small issue that stops this song from being the best track on the album is an odd key change. The chorus is played in a major key and soars, but at the very end it switches to a minor key and a lower vocal register, which is a little off putting and reduces the power of the chorus.
And then there are the ballads. ‘Sundays At Nine’ is one of the strangest songs that I have heard all year. The heartfelt piano melody that starts quiet before going for power ballad bombast is very well performed but my issue is with the bizarre lyrics. ‘Lifeline’ has a similar musical approach, yet more ethereal.
There have been some great albums released by bands this year and ”Something That Your Eyes Won’t See” certainly gives them a run for their money to many. If the ballads were stronger, this would be a serious contender for Album of the Year.
As it stands now, it’s certainly a Top 10 release. It’s a fabulous way to close out the year. If you’re a fan of Swedish melodic rock then don’t hesitate one more minute. Make room on your shelf (or electronic device) for yet another great band with hopefully many more albums to come.
01. Living On The Edge
02. I Wanna Have It All
03. Marilyn
04. Scream In Silence
05. Sundays At Nine
06. Stranger
07. Thunder In The Dark
08. My Devil Within
09. Sinners And Saints
10. Lifeline
Roland ”Rolli” Forsman - Founding Member, Guitarist, Songwriter, Producer
Robert Van Der Zwan - Lead Vocals, Guitars
Jonas Oijvall - Keyboards
Jonas Dicklo - Bass
Fredrik Karlberg - Drums
Remedy – Something That Your Eyes Won’t See 2022+FLAC
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