GYPSY ROSE – Another World

It’s been almost 30 years since the Swedish band Gypsy Rose saw the light of day. They had a short record contract in the mid-80s, but it ended with nothing when the label went out of business. They kept struggling through the 80s, but the plans of releasing their record were soon abandoned. However, in 2004 the project was awakening again, and since then they have released a self-titled debut album and are now releasing another record entitled Another World. Many would expect that this band would be playing some dirty Old-School Rock N’ Roll after hearing their name Gypsy Rose. The impression you have after listening to the first couple of notes from the opener “Final Call” is that this is not what you expected, and find instead that it’s Melodic Metal. You’re tossed to the wall by the fantastic drum production that shines out right from the beginning. On top of this, you get great guitar riffs, atmospheric keyboards, and some very nice singing by vocalist David Reece. It’s a great song and through the 3 minutes it lasts the standard is set for the rest of the music.

The following song “Nothing Really Matters” is even better than the opener. It’s heavy and obstinate, floating on a pounding rhythm section of drums and bass guitar and majestic and grandiose keyboards and guitars. At some places they can wake the memory of the latest White Wolf effort entitled Victim Of The Spotlight because there are certain similar song parts. The title track “Another World” is another grandiose, mountain-high song in the same style as “Nothing Really Matters.” It is carried forward by the thundering drums and the atmospheric keyboards as well as the soaring vocals of David Reece and the screaming guitars. This one features some nice vocal arrangements, especially during the chorus.

Another World has the potential, but there’s still a lot of variation that is needed before this album passes 8 on the character scale. However, the album gets all the credits there are on the production side. There’s a far gap between the production quality of Metal acts this year, but Gypsy Rose is among those that have the greatest sound on their record.

Tracklisting

1. Final Call
2. Nothing Really Matters
3. Angels
4. When I Call Your Name
5. Don’t Look Back
6. Fired
7. A Little Ain’t Enough
8. All The Way To The Sun
9. A Million Miles
10. Liar
11. Another World
12. Hellhammer

Lineup

David Reece – Vocals
Martin Kronlund – Guitars, backing vocals
Rikard Quist – Keyboards
Mats Bostedt – Bass
Imre Daun – Drums

Additional musicians:
Mats Levén – Backing Vocals
Mats Olausson – Piano

Mixed and produced by Martin Kronlund