Code Red
Incendiary

Sweden and melodic rock/AOR seems to be a very delightful combination, at least there are many such artists/bands. Code Red is one of the latest to emerge, a band that under the helpful hand of Daniel Flores comes out with their debut Incendiary. We are given debut album with a dull artwork and ten songs that aren’t of the most incendiary character. And it is quite obvious that it is a Flores production as it sounds like his productions do. But what about the album then? Is it worth spending some hard-earned cash on it?

It sounds like a classic melodic rock production with good sound, very melodic with catchy choruses – no surprises in the sound really. It sounds like a number of bands and I wouldn’t say that we get anything that sounds unique, it is the typical selection of songs for an album of this genre and I would claim that the vocalist is good but he lacks a bit of soul in his singing. The album is also a bit on the long side with the ten tracks clocking in at 47 minutes, many of the songs are also a little bit on the long side making the album lose tempo and energy.

Incendiary is a good album, and I was really seriously thinking about giving it a higher rating. But after careful consideration and analysis I have concluded that the album isn’t memorable enough to merit anything more than a rating in the middle of our scale. Not that I think listeners will be disappointed if they buy the album, I just think that those who buy it will play it once or twice and then but it in a shelf. A shelf where it will be gathering dust for many decades before being put away in storage sold and eventually completely forgotten. There is just too much of this kind of music already and Code Red offers noting new or fresh to the scene. There is something missing for me when I listen to what these guys have on offer, I think it sounds a bit soulless.

It is an album that needs a bit more soul, energy and dynamics; I think you could say that it lacks depth and emotion. It doesn’t really have spirit or the novel feel you want from a new album. Sure Incendiary is good but this has been done to death already and they offer nothing really new so in the end it is a rather forgettable album, and Code Red really need to find some passion as well as a sense of novelty if they want to make more interesting music in the future.

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