Acacia Avenue
Cold

Acacia Avenue should be a well known street for fans of metal, especially number 22 where a certain harlot used to live. Maybe she still does. That street is what might have given the name to this band, a band that is the brainchild of Danish musical star Torben Enevoldsen who has been in charge of several band names. The Acacia Avenue moniker is releasing their second album, an album featuring several different singers, seven to be exact who also act as additional songwriters to this album. So, what about this album that has been given the name Cold? Is it a cool creation?

Sure it is. It is a melodic rock album, AOR could be a clever moniker as well. Good variation as the songs are both sung and co-written by different singers. Impressive production, the sound is powerful yet melodic. The instrumentation is excellent without resorting to masturbation and showing off. Good balance and the album’s eleven tracks has a good longevity not only thanks to the variation but also to the depth in the songs. It can easily stand for many repeat listens and I think that after these repeat listens you can easily deduce that this is a quality production that shows a wealth of competence. Just under fifty minutes of playing time is what you get.

And you can play those near fifty minutes for several hour over without being bored. This is a great album, well sorted and well thought out in all regards. I think that adding the songwriting skills of the singers who does the vocals on the many songs was a masterstroke giving this album a dimension that not many albums in the genre can show for these days. I am impressed by how this album binds together to form this great unity from the skills of these brilliant musicians and also how I am more and more impressed with Steve Newman whenever I hear him singing on something. Not that the other singers are shabby but Newman sings brilliantly and the two songs he sings on, like the opener Time and the seventh track Angelina, are two of the three best songs on the album. Although neither of them are the best.

The best track on the album is instead the cover called Out of the Business which was originally made by a band called The Tubes. That song has some real raw energy but the entire album stands out as a really strong album and is probably the sharpest album in the melodic rock/AOR-genre for a fairly long while, at least this year. A well recommended powerful melodic rock album with all the elements needed to appeal to fans of said genre. I really like this album, it is great.

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