While the monumental riff of his eponymous title had propelled "Taken" and Radioactive to the forefront of the melodic rock scene, "F4ur" (2015) had not allowed Tommy Denander to confirm the momentum of its ten-year elder. To celebrate his thirty years of career, the Swedish prodigy is therefore back with the desire to fight and prove that he is still to be counted on. For that, he surrounded himself with a new bunch of big names of the genre and he lands on the transalpine label specialized in AOR and hard melodic, namely the unavoidable Frontiers.
Despite this signature, we are here very far from the productions of Alessandro Del Vecchio, armed arm of the boss of Frontiers. On the contrary, this new opus of Radioactive inflates the muscles for a result which will disrupt more than one. Apart from the westcoast ballad 'Written In The Scars', the rest tends to make the asphalt smoke, starting with the single 'Monkey On Our Backs' which opens the hostilities with a good big AC/DC riff coated with melodic hard Rock.
Tributes to legendary hard rock bands are not lacking and it is easy to recognize a nod to Whitesnake here ('The Deed Is Done'), another to Def Leppard there ('If Today Was Your Last Day Alive') or another to Van Halen ('California Ways'). The catchy riffs and the unstoppable choruses follow one another and it is impressive to notice how much the different singers put themselves at the service of the project. Thus, Robbie LaBlanc (Find Me, Blanc Faces) doesn't hesitate to leave his usual register and to be more aggressive ('Youman Unkind', 'Voodoo Queen'). The revelation comes from Daniel Byrne, singer of the British band Revival Black, who splashes his talent on a fierce 'Drag Me Through The Mud' which reminds us of Koritni's best tracks.
With this "X.X.X", Tommy Denander celebrates with talent his thirty years of career and he imposes the return of Radioactive on the summits of a hard rock at the same time energetic and melodic. A real collection of catchy hits, this opus reminds us how talented its author is in the fields of writing and interpretation. Supported by a team of experts, whether behind the microphone or in the composition (John Mutt Lange, Erik Grönwall, Olle Romö), he offers here a refreshing and energizing work which represents without any doubt the summit of the recording career of his project.