Reviews: Pilgrimage, Crowne, Rust N Rage, Strangers (Matt Bladen)

Pilgrimage - From Amber To Sun (Meuse Music Records)

Nearly 48 minutes of crushing, introspective, gothic death/doom now as we have the second album from international doom band which spans Malta and The Netherlands. 

Having been breeding their brand of gloom since 2018, they know how to make and impact and with From Amber To Sun they stand on the shoulders of the Peaceville Three or the Scandi greats such as Swallow The Sun or Draconian, the maudlin, melancholic melodies are very strong on A Foreboding Menace where there's a lot of clean solo guitar towards the close of the record. 

This clean guitar cuts through the chugging Whispers On Stellar Seas too, the solo breaking early before crashing into more glacial riffage and guttural vocals, speeding up into blasts here to bring the death to death doom. Marbles are gargled across the record but they are countered by the guest vocals of Heike Langhans (Remina, ex-Draconian) on Whispers On Stellar Seas, Cove Of Wisdom and the title track.

She as usual stuns with her crystalline vocals on Cove Of Wisdom touching an emotive nerve as the title track draws in comparisons to My Dying Bride in the clean vocal part. Elianne Anemaat of Celestial Season who adds beauty to Pilgrim Alone/Crestfallen Tales Of The Sun with some stunning cello. 

As fan of death doom and anything miserable, Pilgrimage take a trip to the darkness and linger there on their second record. 8/10

Crowne - Wonderland (Frontiers Music Srl)

Swedish melodic rock supergroup Crowne return with their third album Wonderland. Formed by powerhouse vocalist Alexander Strandell (Art Nation/Lionville/Nitrate), guitarist Love Magnusson (Dynazty), keyboardist Jona Tee (H.E.A.T), bassist John Leven (Europe) and drummer Christian Lundqvist (ex-The Poodles). 

The music of Crowne is an amalgamation of all of those bands, a smörgåsbord of Swedish melodic rock if you will, but they also embrace some heaviness shifting to melodic metal with songs such as the galloping title track, the swashbuckling Eye Of The Oracle and the riffy Warlords Of The North which features a song writing credit from Biff Byford and as such sounds like modern Saxon. 

The choruses are huge and totally arena ready, Waiting For You, and the Euro metal of Timing Is Right showcase their upbeat side while ballad Goodbye is a slower more emotional, the passion of the band shown on Love Thy Enemy which is a radio single from those Europe glory days. 

Wonderland keeps this supergroup maturing into a hybrid of melodic rock and metal, with great results. 7/10

Rust N Rage - Songs Of Yesterday (Frontiers Music Srl)

According to Rust N Rage, Songs Of Yesterday is “an ultimate collection of nasty riffs and tasty hooks; all forged in the fires of adrenaline filled rock n' roll” well Gone But Never Forgotten, isn’t it’s a ballad of the most saccharine variety, it kills all momentum of an otherwise ok run of 80’s inspired hard rock where the influence of Motley Crue, Bon Jovi and Def Leppard are clear, the latter being very strong on the strut of Rollin’ Till The Morning. 

The Finnish band wear their influences boldly, putting the sleazy sounds of the Sunset Strip with Scandinavian skill, I Am The One and Just Like Brothers flirting with Scandi power metal, however as things get back on track Gave It All I Got is another momentum killer ballad which doesn’t add much.

I think part of it is that Vince has a voice that should be singing power metal not what he’s singing here, the other problem is that these Songs Of Yesterday could be throw away B-Sides from the bands I mentioned earlier. I think if Rust N Rage want to take things further they should try to embrace the NWOTHM sound they have on album closer Fire It Up.

Chase the leather and steel over the leather and lace and they’ll live up to that description I quoted at the beginning. 6/10

Strangers - Boundless (Frontiers Music Srl)

Boundless is the fourth studio album from Spanish band Strangers, it’s their debut full length with Celia Barloz behind the mic. She had previously provided backing vocals for their last album Brand New Start but now takes the mic properly for an entire record (she was introduced as the lead singer on 2023’s Whispers EP). 

With Celia’s harder edge and almost musical style delivery Boundless takes the band into heavier realms, getting some of those Lita Ford and Vixen vibes with a big shot in the arm of the 1980's. Rockers such as Enemy full of big riffs and bigger voices but on ballads such as Freedom, or Goodbye which is basically a pop song, the emotional quotient of the band counters their heavier moments. 

Boundless has a lot of quality to it but it does very little for me as a record I'm afraid, Strangers seem to be trying to find their feet again with their new singer and their new album never quite catches light for me taste. 5/10