Flashback CD Review #88 - Violent Divine - S/T

This review was written for the Rock Is Life.com website in 2006.

Violent Divine
S/T
Chavis Records - 2006
http://www.violentdivine.se

What's The 4-1-1?

The Swedish rockers release their self-titled debut album, down and dirty melodic hard rock with that 80's rock heyday sound.

Genre

Hard Rock / Melodic Rock

The Good

The energy of the opening track "Let's Go" is superb. There are a bunch of examples of outstanding guitar work on this album and that rack is just the first one.

The 80's arena rock sound that the band is shooting for is a great sound and Violent Divine don't let the music sound dated at all. The song "The Morning Show" is fantastic and features an excellent chorus. It's one of my two favorite tracks on the disc, along with the hard charging rocker "Levitate". The latter track has a guitar riff that kicks some major butt. Oh, and I'd be remiss if I didn't mention "Apocalypse" which has a very cool vibe to it.

The Bad

I didn't care for the endless repetition of vocals in "Let's Go". I liked the music but the endless repeating of the lyrics wore on the ears. There are a few tracks that felt like so much filler material. I found that while the majority of the vocals were very good, there were instances where they came across a bit too polished. It was as if singer Michael Ahlstrom was trying too hard to reach a plateau he wasn't quite able to nail and some studio magic was called into play.

The Verdict

All in all, the Violent Divine disc is pretty good. They sound great musically and for the most part the vocals are good. I'm a child of the 80's rock era, so anyone who can successfully bring that sound back these days and not make it sound cheesy is A-OK in my book.

However, while the band has turned out a pretty good album for their first go-round, I don't think it is a home run album. It's good, but they need a bit more in the songwriting department to really be somethin special.

Did You Know

There is a downloadable 13 track that goes along with the album called "Little Angel".

The members of Violent Divine have known each other for 10 years, crossing each other's path through various other bands before forming their own.

Rating: 2 1/2 out of 5