ALLEN-LANDE – The Revenge

With The Battle album a couple years back, the project featuring two of the most respected vocalists in the field, Russel Allen (Symphony X) and Jorn Lande (ex-Ark, ex-Masterplan, ex–a-whole-lot-of-bands, as well as having an active solo career in constant motion), saw great reception from fans and critics alike. Therefore, it’s not a surprise that the follow-up is already here. That said, The Revenge couldn’t feel further removed from being a rushed release.

Twelve tracks are presented in total. Six tracks feature Allen and Lande together, fittingly these include the opening and ending tracks. The remaining six tracks are evened out with three tracks featured for each, taking turns every second or third track with the duet songs being mostly evenly scattered about.

The constellation isn’t much of a battle, though. Even though the two voices are at times strikingly similar, Allen, even in all his glory, is not much of a competitive match for Lande’s powerful, aggressive timbre, so one wonders whether or not actual revenge is really taking part in that department. That’s certainly not to say Allen doesn’t lend his share of talent to the project, as the album would most certainly not have been the same without him.

Apart from the shared vocal duties, The Revenge naturally marks the same path and concept as its predecessor. Magnus Karlsson (Last Tribe) is again executing guitars, bass, and keyboards, as well as producing the affair. Karlsson’s band partner, Jamie Salazar, handles drum duties. Apart from Last Tribe, he has lent his talents for Opus Atlantica, Bad Habit, Pete Sandberg’s solo albums, and Midnight Sun, among others.

Things take off with the title track. It barely has time to start off before the obligatory, typical ”wo-hoh’s,” ”yeah’s,” and various grunts courtesy of Jorn Lande take place. It’s quite a powerful opening, and especially the ”feel what I feel” part in the pre-chorus, where Russel and Jorn sing simultaneously, hits home nicely. Still, it serves merely as a warm-up, as the better tracks are yet to come. The second track, ”Obsessed,” offers Russel alone behind the microphone and is one of the stronger songs on the album. The bridge flows particularly well in this song. ”Her Spell,” featuring Jorn Lande, leans on the up-tempo side, and could had been at home on the Starbreaker album that Karlsson created with ex-TNT singer Tony Harnell. Jorn Lande is on the verge of outdoing himself on ”Master Of Sorrow,” a piano-led (ironically, a little reminiscent of Masterplan’s ”Soulburn”) slower track that shows off his voice particularly well, baring his Soulful 70’s era Hard Rock influences.

Grandeur voices aside, The Revenge wouldn’t be half the album it is if it wasn’t for the superb songwriting of Karlsson. In fact, there aren’t really any weak songs here. Between just the right amount of piano and atmosphere, coupled with the Classic Hard Rock guitar elements on tracks such as ”Under The Waves,” add to that the presence of the Def Leppard-like ”Gone Too Far,” the melodic Metal mastery of ”Victory” and ”Who Can You Trust,” or the semi-acoustic ballad territory of ”When Time Doesn’t Heal,” there really isn’t anything in sight to complain about. The Revenge makes for an even and yet rich release.