Fastlane Flower
Deadline
Rating
Style: Easy Listening Chick Metal
Release date: 24 January, 2011
Playing time: 41:58
 

I'll be honest. Fastlane Flower's album "Deadline" is probably going to cost you your man card. It's pretty girly. And I hate almost all girly metal. But this album is really kind of good in a guilty pleasure sort of way. It's real poppy and extremely vocally driven. Let's break it down.

The vocalist has a number of different styles that she brings to the table. She has pretty solid high range when she gets up there. The majority of the vocals are in a comfortable mid-range, lacking any extreme element. She also has a couple of tracks where she gets dirtier, in more of a punkish manner; these aren't as good as her normal range though. Overall, the vocals are a big strength though (especially in the harmonies brought to the table).

Lyrics I usually don't care too much about, but they're a little up and down. The command of the English language isn't so strong in some places, which leaves me scratching my head. It's a bit of detraction. And yet in other places, the concepts are cool. "Agent to Chaos" seems to be about the Joker and Batman, and it's one of the better songs on the album. There isn't much consistency in this area, but for the most part, they aren't terribly well developed.

Musically, primarily the metal portion of the album sets the backdrop, but there's some decent riffing throughout and in the few moments there's something constituting an instrumental part, they deliver. Overall, the tone fluctuates throughout, and there are some real soft sounding passages, which are good, but are probably softer than the average metalhead is looking to tolerate. At times the guitars have a Nightwish-esque feel to them (only they're not as good).

Still, the songwriting is generally a strength and there are some really catchy songs on the album. I'm not huge on "Secret Archive", which is the song they're really trying to bring the hardest edge to. But "Agent of Chaos" is pretty sick, and I love "At the Rainbow's End". The harmonies evoked are novel and are certainly diggable.

It's not flawless by any means, but for chick metal, it's pretty damn good. This album could probably help you convert a non-metal chick to the dark side. And you might like it yourself. You just need to hide it in the super-secret hidden lair where your porn stash is situated so no one ever knows you have it.


Tracklist

01. Agent of Chaos
02.
State of Emergency
03.
Monkey Business
04.
Blue Moon
05.
Secret Archive
06.
Wisteria Lane Concept
07.
Before I'm Gone
08.
Coping with the Loss of Beauty
09.
At the Rainbow's End

Label: Nordic Records
Distribution: Nordic Records
Artwork rating: 70/100
Reviewed by: The Rev
Date: 12 March 2011
Website: www.myspace.com/fastlaneflower
www.fastlaneflower.no