All death or black metal fans
can stop reading right now! State of
Salazar is strongly influenced by bands
like Toto, Queen, Journey, Survivor, REO Speedwagon and Chicago.
Very melodic rock with a bright, clear and
positive sound picture. The majority of the songs
are in the softer Westcoast/AOR
genre with big choruses and tidy musical
craftsmanship and are backed up by a
fancy, solid rhythm section.
Their EP 'Lost My Way' came in 2012 with
seven promising melodies and with
intense anticipation I been longing for
this debut full length album. The former Malmö Academy of Music students are
aiming high and they seems to hit their
targets all the time. All the tracks are
extremely well written and are like an
pile of high carat jewelry. My high expectations
are fulfilled and more than
that....
This is one of the best AOR album this year!!
Swedish melodic rock bands are
driving this genre forward and State of Salazar
together
with Work of Art, Eclipse, WET, Degreed
and Houston are standing in the
frontline of the Scandi melodic rock
genre. State of Salazar has a contagious
joyful sound, which they deliver through
my speakers. Marcus Nygren has a very
beautiful and well-trained voice and
could easily qualify for a stand-in for
Joseph Williams in Toto. He handles the
powerful vocal parts like the powerhouse
Bobby Kimball in Toto in the 80's and
the gentler, slower parts like John Wetton in Asia. A complete and very nice
voice. Mr. Thuresson plays the guitar
riffs and his fabulous hooks like a
cumulus cloud in the sky. Very airy and
catchy string performance. I can't pick
any specific song to my favourite list,
because all the twelve tracks would be on that
list. It depends on, which mood I'm in. It
changes from day to day. And the best is
that this an album that grows and grows
each time I listen to it.
'All the Way' is a very strong candidate for my AOR-album of the year price. It
will definitely qualify for my 'Best of
2014' list in December.
A must purchase album for all melodic
fans out there. My thumbs are up!
Line up:
Marcus Nygren - Vocals
Johan Thuresson - Guitar
Stefan Mårtenson - Keyboard
Johannes Hansson - Bass
Kristian Brun - Drums
