Frontiers put out an awful lot of product these days and to be honest at sometimes they all seem to wash into one, that’s not saying that there aren’t some real gems out there it’s just hard to keep up with the relentless pace and as a lover of live music it is I must admit sometimes hard to find one of those standouts and realise that the prospect of ever seeing the band live is just never going to happen.
I must admit that I only really had this one on the radar after bumping into the H.E,A.T. guys when they hit Australia earlier this year as Ginevra’s debut ‘We Belong To The Stars’ features H.E.A.T.’s bassist Jimmy Jay (who was recommended for the role by Jona Tee) alongside vocalist Kristian Fyhr (Seventh Crystal), guitarist Magnus Karlsson (The Ferrymen, Primal Fear) and drummer Magnus Ulfstedt (ex-Eclipse, Nordic Union).
To quote the press release “Ginevra came to be after Kristian Fyhr sent Serafino Perugino, Frontiers Records President, some songs he had written for consideration to be used on future Frontiers’ label projects. One particular song, ‘My Rock N’ Roll’ jumped out at Perugino and he asked Fyhr if he would be interested in fronting a new band that would craft an entire album in a musical direction illustrated in that song, which was substantially different from Fyhr’s main band Seventh Crystal. The final results brought Ginevra’s sound under the same big umbrella of excellent Nordic melodic hard rock like H.E.A.T, Eclipse, Crowne, and the like, but without necessarily sounding like those bands. Ginevra is hooky and melodic, but mostly heavier and more guitar/riff oriented than traditional melodic rock.“
I must admit before getting to the music in this world of ever interesting band names I have no idea what Ginevra means other than it being the Italian name for Geneva, though in Welsh it’s a girl’s name meaning something along the lines of fair haired and smooth! Enlighten me if you know better!
Musically we are getting pretty much what the press says – some ballsy riff driven melodic rock: and we open impressively with a couple of surefooted rockers ‘Siren’s Calling’ and ‘Unbreakable’ before the slower ‘Apologize’ sets off Fhyr’s powerful vocals. We’ve ticked a lot of boxes without necessarily nailing it so far and when ‘Masquerade (Feat, Chez Kane)’ comes around you’re hoping for another step up. It opens with acoustic guitars and another powerful vocal from Fhyr before Chez Kane’s clear vocal cuts in, of course things then burst into flames with some powerful guitars and more impassioned vocals. After half a dozen listens it’s still not quite clicking with me despite having all the essential elements seemingly in place.
‘Break the Silence’ takes us back to that powerful staple that we opened with and for me at least its these solid Melodic rockers that work best. For me it’s ‘Brokenhearted’ that finally nails it. It’s a huge soaring melodic song that really takes wings. Title track ‘We Belong To The Stars’ backs that up, and this pair, probably my picks of the album we just what I’d been hoping for from this great bunch of musicians.
We race to the finish line with arguably a stronger set of songs than we opened with. ‘I’ll Be Around’ is chock full of Melody and yearning and ‘Falling To Pieces’ builds beautifully whilst ‘The Fight’ sums up everything I love about this one – great riff, great vocal, solid backline and huge melodies – together they’re three of my favourites here. Closer ‘My Rock’n’roll’ slows things down and unleashes Fhyr. It’s a great way to leave us hanging.
7/10
Tracklisting: Siren’s Calling | Unbreakable | Apologize | Masquerade Feat. Chez Kane | Break The Silence | Brokenhearted | We Belong To The Stars | I’ll Be Around | Falling To Pieces | The Fight | My Rock’n’roll
LINE-UP:
Kristian Fhyr – Vocals, Backing Vocals, Keyboards
Magnus Karlsson – Guitar, Keyboards
Jimmy Jay – Bass
Magnus Ulfstedt – Drums
Additional musicians:
Chez Kane – Vocals on ‘Masquerade’
Alessandro Del Vecchio – Keyboards