The Rockford Heroes - Edge of The Silverthorn (2013)

Now I was not meant to do this review in the first place. Why? Well it is pretty easy, the Swedish quartet The Rockford Heroes have insisted to only release short EPs in a pretty high rate. But when the band discovered that the songs they made for an upcoming EP fitted well with the songs from "The White EP", they decided to create this album entitled "Edge of The Silverthorn". The Rockford Heroes consists of Jonas Arvidsson on guitar, Dan Hultstrand on vocals, Marcus Johansson on drums and Eric Carlsson on bass. The band makes mostly classic 80's hard rock but the band has great variation in both sound and influences. Or what do you say about Iron Maiden, System of A Down, Styx, My Chemical Romance and Edguy with many more.

"Edge of The Silverthorn" starts of with "No Reason To Believe", a song that simply screams 80's hard rock. With its vocal harmonies, screeching guitar and tinkling keyboard, this song is a perfect album opener and you can tell that the band has put a lot of hard work into the music. In the next song, "The Day of Return", the band is changing to a slightly faster pace and the guitar plays a heavier set of riffs but the song is still melodic and has a power created by the awesome vocal work.

A good 80's record would not be complete without the mandatory rock ballad and "Forever" is doing a good work to keep the tradition even though it is not as appealing as most of the songs on "Edge of The Silverthorn". But the band is doing a great job and makes the most out of this (and every) track.

After "Forever", the album changes to a more modern hard rock sound starting with "And There Was Temptation" that reminds me of a Edguy song. It is melodic and the speed is fast and nice. A song that show that the band is capable to master many different styles. And the variation continues with the symphonic and grand "Gold Encircles The Altar", the NWOBHM inspired "Capricious Arrows", the almost operatic "A Split Second Goodbye" and the hooky "The Fools Realm".

The variation is the clear strong point in "Edge of The Silverthorn" and unlike many other bands, The Rockford Heroes variation still has a solid ground to stand on. Without that ground the variation has a big risk to make the album very fragmented and unclear. But that is not a problem we get to experience in this album. The only real weak spot is that a couple of songs does not live up to their full potential but overall is "Edge of The Silverthorn" a very pleasant experience. The band is very tight and clearly knows what they are doing. "Edge of The Silverthorn" is the perfect album for those who wants to soar back to the 80's but still wants a little modern influence in the nostalgic sound. In other words, this album fits both for old and new hard rock fans.

Songs worthy of recognition: No Reason To Believe, And There Was Temptation, Capricious Arrows, The Fools Realm

Rating: 8,5/10 Days of Return

Website: www.therockfordheroes.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/therockfordheroes