Sweden knows how to do retro-rock. It knows how to do so many great forms of rock and metal too of course, but when you stumble across a really cool, authentic hard rock band, encapsulating the exact vibe of what has gone before, more often than not they’re Swedish. Not sure why, but the latest in an illustrious line, ready to put their own unique slant on the style are simply titled Night.
Not that Night are new to the scene, their NWOBHM inspired debut emerged back in 2012, but this album continues their path away from straight edged NWOBHM which 2017’s “Raft Of The World” saw the dawn of. “High Tides – Distant Skies” sees the band pushing things even further. Yes, you can still hear the distant rumblings of a circa-1980 Saxon/Praying Mantis/Tygers Of Pan Tang (‘Give Me To The Night’ for instance), but generally Night travel further back in time with lashings of Thin Lizzy, UFO and early Scorpions and lots of Blue Oyster Cult. They remind me very much of what I used to enjoy about fellow countrymen Horisont, sporting a very similar musical outlook to the one they had a few years back…before they took it all a little too far with their last couple of albums. Night approach it all with a smoother, often twinned/harmonized vocal style (both guitarists also sing) than Horisont that’s reminiscent of…yep, it’s Blue Oyster Cult isn’t it. Yeah…Night sound a LOT like Blue Oyster Cult at times…but they do it incredibly well, showcasing plenty of themselves with a shining Swedish-ness throughout.
The band’s more metal side hasn’t vanished all together though – there’s more than a hint of Wolf about ‘Falling Into The Black’ for instance, some great riffs all through the album and excellent lead-work. Let’s be honest though, this is a Hard Rock album, taking its lead from the golden times of the genre. There are tons of memorable vocal melodies, bright keys mixed in with the punchy guitar lines and a super-tight rhythm section. It’s polished and respectful to all it pays homage to, but without being a direct copy or tribute. All in all, it’s a pretty damn fine album with so much to like about it, not only if you like all the bands I mentioned earlier, in the era they had this sound, but all thrown together and re-imagined expertly by another great Swedish retro hard rock act.
(8/10 Andy Barker)
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