Eclipse, as one of the heavy hitters in the 80’s Hard Rock revival have produced some stunning material over the years culminating in their most successful release ‘Paradigm’ in 2019. Sweden’s finest are now back with their new studio album ‘Wired.’
Now as someone who has loved this band since the ‘Bleed and Scream’ days I can honestly say Eclipse are a band who has never let me down and one of the few bands out there really capable of bringing the sound of the records to the live show.
‘Wired’ of course was preceded by the single, ‘Saturday Night (Hallelujah)’ and the new record sees the Swedish quartet going for it, creating an uplifting, anthemic record to recharge us all after the pandemic. Where this sits in relation to the catalogue of course is always the question I find myself asking whenever a new record comes out by a band like Eclipse. On one hand it’s rather a moot point – it’s simply great Hard Rock worthy of your attention, but on the other it’s always hard to label a new release with a ‘gold’, ‘silver’, ‘bronze’ or also-ran tag. That might take a good few more listens.
What you do get is the expected quality or a band who has already set the bar very high with releases like ‘Bleed & Scream’ (2012); ‘Armageddonize’ (2015); ‘Monumentum’ (2017) and ‘Paradigm’ (2019).
Opener ‘Roses on Your Grave’ is right up there with their best – a hard edged rocker with a huge hook made to shout out loud and whilst ‘Dying Breed’ emerged from the same bedrock, it’s a more mid-tempo affair that sizzles and sports some great lyrics as it wedges itself in your brain! ‘Saturday Night (Hallelujah)’ of course is huge! And again we have it – another huge opening shot!
And like you might expect the quality continues: ‘Run For Cover’ adds that mild Folk/Celtic flavour Eclipse do so well, it’s the most melodic so far and it’s mid-tempo sway is almost danceable. Elsewhere the gently building ‘Carved in Stone’ is a wonderful change of pace and full of atmosphere, the perfectly placed lighter moment here. ‘Twilight’ on the other hand keeps that Folky DNA but amps it up to 11 – it’s a storming song and one with a satisfyingly Metallic edge. There’s no mid-album lull here that’s for sure!
‘Poison Inside My Heart’ then arrives on what sounds like the back of a gentle mandolin, it’s the only true ballad here and again it’s a little different with those Folk undertones, it’s something that Eclipse does so well, and when it bursts into a storm of guitar it’s taken to another level. A great song that just grows with each listen. ‘Bite The Bullet’ takes us back to solid rock but twists and turns with a breakdown that settles in like a symphonic cowboy song! It’s one of the ones I had to play again and again.
‘We Didn’t Come to Lose’ adds a touch more assured Arena Rock, and that just leaves ‘Things We love’ to harness a ‘Big Country’ vibe before closer ‘Dead Inside’ takes us out with a real melodic high – it might even be my favourite here! It’s a more than satisfying a way to close Eclipse’s fort post-pandemic album and a great set of songs to hit the (semi) open road with!
8.5 / 10
CD / MC
Roses On Your Grave | Dying Breed | Saturday Night (Hallelujah) | Run For Cover | Carved In Stone | Twilight | Poison Inside My Heart | Bite The Bullet | We Didn’t Come To Lose | Things We Love | Dead Inside (CD and Digital Exclusive Bonus Track)
LP
Saturday Night (Hallelujah) | Twilight | Ain’t No Fun (Vinyl Exclusive Bonus Track) | Dying Breed | Carved In Stone | Things We Love | Roses On Your Grave | Run For Cover | Poison Inside My Heart | We Didn’t Come To Lose | Bite The Bullet | Total length: 0.41.10
LINE-UP:
Erik Mårtensson – Vocals
Magnus Henriksson – Guitars
Philip Crusner – Drums
Victor Crusner – Bass
https://www.facebook.com/EclipseSweden/
https://www.eclipsemania.com/
http://www.eclipseofficialfanclub.com/