BIG CITY – Testify X

If you are searching for yet another Melodic Rock/Metal album to blast in your car and to sing along with your hair in the wind, Big City’s new record Testify X will be a fine addition to your collection. This time, the band is back with a new singer: Jørgen Bergersen. With this new record, Big City is not diverting from their 80s influences and Testify X is a tribute to all the classics of this era. With ten songs coming up to almost an hour, no one can accuse Big City of being stingy, as they take the time to develop different atmospheres, while keeping a good coherence and flow between the songs.

“The rush” earns its title as an opening song and proves, once more if needed, that Big City has ambition for their new record. Probably one of the best songs of the album, it surprisingly leans towards Power Metal with a catchy chorus and discreet keyboards. Jørgen Bergersen fits the job perfectly well, with his clear and powerful voice with just the raucous enough tinge you need. “Dark Rider” and “Testify” goes back to that classic sound with great efficiency. But what would a Melodic Rock/Metal album be without its inevitable sentimental ballad? “I will fall” is convincing enough, even if the song does not match the masterpieces of the genre, a slightly weaker spot on the record.

With “Running Away” and “Conception” Big City develops further the ballad atmosphere with mid-tempi without flourish. The songs are well produced and certainly pleasing, but you cannot always chase away the feeling that you have already heard this riff a thousand times, even if you cannot really say where and when. However “Winds of the Road” is a good surprise with its epic chorus. This one will certainly end up on your next road trip playlist, as well as “Heart’s Like a Lion” with its keyboard’s layering adding to this ’80s flavor of another decade, the smell of long hair, fuel and leather jacket. Last but one, “Graveyard Love ” overly repetitive chorus sadly spoils an otherwise good song with eerie vocals to match this gloomy atmosphere. It seems for sure the band wanted to end the record with a truly epic piece, with the 7 minutes long “How Dark Does It Get” in which they are only partly successful, as it lacks a little something.

Testify X is a solid offering on the altar of Heavy Metal and leaves a taste of wanting more, even more experimentations and different atmospheres. The lack of originality does not stop you from headbanging throughout the whole album, and in the end, what more could we wish from musicians that have already amply proven themselves?

Best tracks: “The Rush” – “Winds of the Road” – “Heart’s Like a Lion”