The Quill’s ninth studio album hits the streets on the 26th March, and with every release I wonder more and more whey this Swedish Hard Rock institution isn’t a name everyone out there knows!
Opening with the hard rocking hypnotic stomp of ‘Hallucinate’ you’ll be immersed in the sounds of the golden era of the 70’s throughout this trip, and its a glorious ride. Along the way you get all of the fuel you need and a few surprises too. Take the crunching riff of the Sabbath referencing ‘Keep on Moving’ a huge melodic lit rocker, or the epic, brooding seven minute plus ‘Dwarf Planet’ a searching slab of ‘Soundgarden meets Uriah Heep’ proportions. And that’s just the openers!
Coming as the follow-up to 2017’s acclaimed ‘Born From Fire’ the band again hooked up with Erik Nilsson from 491 Studio in Oskarshamn, Sweden and that partnership has clicked again mid-covid to create a work of equal stature. And it’s a record where the whole band can be heard loud and clear from the exceptional vocals of singer Magnus Ekwall (Ayreon, Mountain Of Power), to the inspired drumming of Jolle Atlagic (Hanoi Rocks, Electric Boys, Firebird), the wonderful tone of guitarist Christian Carlsson (Cirkus Prütz), and the dynamic bass of Roger Nilsson (Spiritual Beggars, Firebird, Arch Enemy).
At just nine songs, (the band demoed 20) you might thing things a little mean, but you can’t deny the quality. This is The Quill at their most creative and proficient delving deep into the world of ’70s heavy rock. It’s an album crammed full of big riffs, soaring drums and pounding bass lines, great guitars and wonderful vocals – ticking all the boxes for lovers of unadorned honest hard rock.
Deeper in both ‘Left Brain Blues’ and ‘Earthrise’ owe a debt to Sabbath and yet still sound timeless and are both wonderfully constructed, as someone who has never been a fan of Ozzy’s vocals these moments are prefect for me! ‘Evil Omen’ that follows is the other side of the band’s wonderful sound – summoning a real Zeppelin vibe as it unfolds gloriously into a sure-footed wandering deeply melodic epic rocker that almost hits the ten minute mark. For me it’s the crowning glory of a great album.
We close with more wonderful stuff – first the thick groove of ’21st Century Sky’ which is followed by the gentle hypnotic build and then full flight of ‘The Zone’ before closer ‘Dead River’ adds a little strummed footnote and makes you realise why you need The Quill in your collection and your life!
If you’ve not been touched by The Quill in the past then dive right into this and then enjoy the back catalogue. If you’re already in ‘the know’ then you can be assured of more quality material. Easily Top 10 of 2021!
8.5/10
THE QUILL:
www.thequill.se
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www.metalville.de
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