Seven Wishes - Seven Wishes

Seven Wishes would be pretty much straightforward melodic rock, if it weren't for the pipes of the main vocalist, Pelle Anderson, who does not sound like your run-of-the-mill AOR singer. He sounds much more suited for prog/power metal, with pipes that are somewhere inbetween Stratovarius vocal god Timo Kotipelto and Tobias Sammet of Edguy with a dash of the high pitched sounds of first Fates Warning frontman. Very heavy accent comes into play, which might take AOR junkies off guard for the first few spins, but you will quickly warm up to it, and it becomes enchanting in the same way as listening to other foriegn singers such as Bert Heernik (ex Vandenberg) and Gary Barden (ex MSG). With a bit more experience under his belt, he might shape up to coming close to the ones he's being compared to. There's plenty of room to grow, even though the current incarnation does well more than just 'get the job done'. The music itself is a world away from what you would expect if you were just listening to the singer alone. Comparisions can be drawn to heaps of AOR acts like XYZ, "Realized Fantasies"-era TNT, and Yngwie Malmsteen (80s), with a healthy dose of Euro Metal like Fair Warning in song structure, with uncompromising tunes that have enough of a rough edge so that no one would dare call it pussy metal, and will instantly recall visions of "Back for the Attack" era Dokken, which is apparently their main influence judging by this debut record. The guitar work, brought to life by Anthony Cedergren, is no different really, even if it is the spot where the band really shines, incorporating rawer tones that suit well to the gallopy, upfront riffing which often ends up as being the framework for some of the high paced tunes. Crunchy and unforgiving and quite similiar to George Lynch when he was at his finest and before he decided to go rapcore/alternative/whatever he wants to call it. After gliding through the first half of the album, you will start to realize that there are almost no keyboards to speak of on this record. The holes are filled up with even more layers of crunching guitar work, and after hearing dozens upon dozens of releases that lean heavily on tickling the ivories, this noticable lack of keys is simply delightful.

"We Want It All" sounds like a reworked version of Dokken's "Kiss of Death", and being a huge fan of the sound from that particular record, this is not a bad thing at all! Kudos to drummer Jens Persson for holding this all together in an almost "Wild" Mick Brown styling, pounding the skins with ferocity, making the end result sound exceptionally good for a bass thumping anthem. "The Wasted" throws in plenty of gang vocals, acting as the backdrop for a very smooth vocal performance by Anderson, that settles comfortably towards the front of the mix with the grinding guitar chops crunching all around. Toe-tapping, car sing-a-long friendly rhythm that will keep it swirling in your head for days, a'la some of Euro newcomers, Damned Nation's best tracks. "Love Affection" lets the vocalist put a slight Joe Elliot (Def Leppard) spin on his voice, which ends up as being the 'hook' for the song, it all hangs on the way he drops the end of the word 'affection', and of course the high energy chorus. The band tackles the heavy backended material extremely well, but they prove that while bouncy hard rock is their specialty, they can also do the sentimental ballad thing, with "Bring Me to Heaven" being the tune in question. The beginning has the strong markings of Icon's "Hungry for Love" draped over it, but instead of turning and rocking out like the Icon song, Seven Wishes goes for a reasonably subdued ballad-esque path. The whispered "bring me to heaven" near the beginning before the first fill of strings is a very nice touch. "Open Your Eyes" starts out pretty good, but never picks itself up and goes anywhere, and lacks the expression of "Bring Me...", but for a mellow album ending track, its not really so bad, but the earlier ballad is much better, even if the song seems to be nothing but a space filling afterthought.

Seven Wishes debut release shows lots of promise, while being a solid record itself especially in the axe assault attack and the unique vocals. Everything seems to gel, with the bass booming, guitar frenzy fests. The rhythm section made up of the already mentioned drummer Jens Persson and bassist Tony Westgard, is very solid and holds the album together well. With irresistable melodies that fit their respective songs like a glove, and the thick growling in-your-face guitar slinging, Seven Wishes is one album that will please most all of the AOR/Euro metal fans, and reach way beyond their aimed audience.

Rating - 8.5
by Alanna Evans
More Metal Reviews