Finding Pieces

After six years of militancy in Twilight Force and a fair amount of success and three in NorthTale where he seemed to have found stability, the talented and restless blond vocalist Christian Eriksson seeks more luck with the newly formed Final Strike, debuting with "Finding Pieces", in which he can finally devote himself almost completely to songwriting, an aspect on which he had always been greatly penalized in previous bands.

Listening to this record, we immediately notice the renewed compositional maturity of Eriksson, author of almost all the songs. Although the proposal is not original and all the tracks wink at bands that have made power history, we can with pleasure realize that the ten tracks that make up the record are imbued with passion and attention to detail, as well as excellent individual technique. Making use of former and to this day stable members of NorthTale, Eriksson & co. pull a truly excellent record out of the hat.

Masterfully produced and with immediate impact, "Finding Pieces" expertly ranges seamlessly from calssic power metal canons to much heavier, if very melodic, passages with upbeat and redundant refrains that are easy to get stuck in your head. You can unwittingly find yourself humming or whistling any chorus throughout the day. Eriksson's voice, always very clean, accompanies without ever overdoing it, every single passage. Far from the almost screamed and super high-pitched singing in Twilight Force, where it was excellent but pushed beyond the limits in the studio and consequently complicated and difficult in live performances, in this album Christian proves his talent by falling within his limits without ever overdoing it.

We are not in front of a symphonic power album, but rather in front of an excellent record of pure and healthy no-frills power, seasoned with a few sprinkles of heavy. Pressing the play button and enjoying the total 41 minutes of listening, we can savor a delightful fruit salad of styles, to which Final Strike refers; starting with two tracks in the wake of Heavenly, Rhapsody and HammerFall in terms of riffs, choruses and speed, we then move on to very Helloween-oriented tracks, with the classic double solos or catchy refrains so dear to Deris and Weikath, especially those of the late 90s. There is no shortage of more cadenced mid-tempo tracks in the style of HammerFall's "At the End of the Rainbow", decidedly less power and more heavy. There is also a place for much more drawn-out double-bass tracks, reminiscent here of early Sonata Arctica's Ecliptica, with keyboards and guitars intertwining in a maelstrom of melody and power. "Restless Mind" is perhaps the least metal song of all, exploring the more decidedly hard rock boundaries very well. The end of the record comes with a triptych that again reminds us of Helloween, HammerFall and some small guitar passages much closer to StratovariuS.

Final Strike's proposal is pure and simple power tinged with heavy, nothing more. The musicians are expert, technically proficient and know their stuff, Eriksson after more than a decade of experience has now matured, the songwriting here is proof of this and what he offers is something light, unpretentious, strong to the ears, even a bit pandering, but which has the ability to capture the listener's attention with simple, well-structured melodies and a musical rhythm that does not overdo it and above all does not repeat itself during the total 41 minutes.

While the songs are heavily influenced by the various groups I mentioned above and none rise above the others so that they can be remembered as the album's hit, the overall result is undoubtedly excellent; lighthearted, catchy power and perfectly produced and played. It is by no means a masterpiece, but Eriksson & co. certainly nailed it the first time around. We will hear more from them in the future, or at least I hope so. That is, if the blond singer within a couple of years divorces again and settles elsewhere. Only time will tell. In the meantime, enjoy this "Finding Pieces."

Well done, Final Strike!