Jorn
Bring Heavy Rock to the Land

One of the greatest voices in hardrock or metal, and yet he hasn’t really been releasing fantastic music so far. His works has been predictable and lacked a sense of imagination and that last little touch that makes good music great, sure he has been on some fantastic albums like the first Masterplan album or his guest appearances with Ayreon and Avantasia to name the best. His latest album under the Jorn moniker is called Bring Heavy Rock to the Land which I am sure it will do, it will bring a picture of a bird priest at least and one of the more ridiculous album titles I have seen this year. Beforehand I was really hoping for something completely different from Jorn, something braver than he has done and something that would compliment his voice better than anything I have heard by his Jorn band so far. The poorly spelled press information does not support this though but says that you will know what to expect from a Jorn album, that is not really a good sign.

It is a correct sign as well, it is what you expect with melodic hardrock/metal with catchy choruses and a very melodic feel to it. Classic songs with typical song structures is what we get, I think that those who has heard Jorn before won’t be surprised in any way by this album. It has ten tracks that aren’t that varied, quite similar songs seen over the 53 minutes but of course with slight variations on a theme. Jorn’s vocals are excellent as usual and he brings heavy rock to the lands he visits with that one, Jorn has also produced the album which is mixed by Tommy Hansen (as usual) and it sounds good, nothing earth shattering but good. The thing is though, 53 minutes is long for a traditional rock album no matter who is the voice, it isn’t varied enough to remain really interesting for the entire time.

It is strange how such a great voice can be part of an album that is so lacklustre, not that it is bad but nothing in this album really grabs me. It is just like before, a professional album that feels a bit like an industrial product in which it presses the right buttons that will probably ensure that it fall into liking amongst many hardrock fans. It is a decently enjoyable album but it offers nothing new that we haven’t heard before and the only one that grabs my attention is the title track with the pathetic name which is a good catchy track despite the silliness of it. But how do you accurately describe this? it is easy to sound more negative than you really are as there are this feeling of the album being quite good but at the same time it is nothing memorable and this is a hard thing describing without sounding a bit too negative and I am not negative to the music in itself but to the lack of imagination he shows the good old Jorn. I think he should dare to try something more, something less common, maybe he should be a bit more brave in his songwriting, his voice deserves that as now his music feels like a bit of a waste of his vocal skills as it crowns something that sounds very common.

I think that in the end, this is like music done on an industrial level made from a blueprint to work for as many people as possible and seen like that it is a successful album as I don’t think anyone can really dislike it. Although those who hear a lot of music will not really like it as anything but a bit of background music either, unfortunately this album is just like any other Jorn album, it is predictable, more or less devoid of imagination and without and obvious focal points. Jorn has a wonderful voice and his performance on this album is once again flawless, a bit sterile I would say but excellent nonetheless. I think that if you are a fan of classic heavy rock you should really check this one out as it should tick all your boxes.