TNT
A Farewell to Arms

Tracks
01. Engine
02. Refugee
03. Ship In The Night
04. Take It Like A Man – Woman
05. Come
06. Barracuda
07. Signature On A Demon's Self Portrait
08. Don't Misunderstand Me
09. A Farewell To Arms
10. Someone Else
11. God Natt, Marie
12. Harley Davidson


Band:
Tony Mills- Vocals
Ronni Le Tekrö- Guitars
Victor Borge- Bass guitar
Diesel Dahl- Drums and percussion


Discography:
TNT (1982)
Knights of the New Thunder (1984)
Tell No Tales (1987)
Intuition (1989)
Realized Fantasies (1992)
Firefly (1997)
Transistor (1999)
My Religion (2004)
All the Way to the Sun (2005)
The New Territory (2007)
Atlantis (2008)


Guests:
Baard Svensen- Backing vocals


Info
Tommy Hansen- album mixing
Ronni Le Tekrö - producer

Released 21/1-2011
Reviewed 17/2-2011


Links:
tnttheband.com
myspace
metal heaven

A Farewell to arms is something that doesn’t sound to pleasant if it is your arms they are talking about. It can be other kinds of arms, like firearms and so and if so a farewell to those would be quite good really. Then again, this record is apparently called Engine in some places as well, but my copy was named A Farewell to Arms. I know TNT somewhat but not maybe as good as I should and the last time I heard them was in 2004 when I reviewed their album My Religion for the printed edition of Hallowed. A review that was positive for the band but still I have not heard the band since then. A lot has happened during that time the band has been silent in my mind, they have released a few albums, they have a new singer and new bassist and everything. A Farewell to Arms is the third album with this new singer called Tony Mills who replaced Tony Harnell in 2006.

I think this change of singer does not effect the band too much, the voice is rather similar but in my mind not as good and even though the music and voice is similar, the voice of Harnell managed to carry the music in a completely different way to Mills and I think he is a better vocalist but maybe not too much and the voice is not all for TNT anyway.

The music of TNT is melodic hardrock with lots of attention to the guitar melodies and powerful choruses. The guitar sound of Ronni Le Tekrö is the main attention grabber for me with TNT and that applies very much to this album as well. His guitar sort of speaks and with that sound along with high pitched vocals and strong choruses we have described more or less how TNT sounds.

I think that this new album is a very good album with great melodies and they really rock when the songs on this album starts going with the opening track called Engine which is the title track in some locations but that does not really matter, it is a great opener which rocks heavily and still has a powerful melodic chorus, both very heavy and melodic at the same time. Engine is a great opening track which sets the tone and at the same time shows for us as the audience what we can expect from TNT on this album.

The third track, Ship In the Night is the next impressive track that comes around, it is a really nice melodic rock song that is easy to sing along to and just enjoy. After that track comes another one of this smokers which is called Take it Like a Man - Woman which is maybe a contradictory title but it is a great heavy rocking song with powerful chorus and at the same time really good melodies. Don’t Misunderstand Me is another one of these nice melodic tracks I enjoy when I listen to this album.

My favourite track on this album is the second to last one which is called God Natt Marie (Good Night Marie in English) which is not sung in Norweigian but in English despite the title. It is a beautiful ballad with a really nice feel to it and a really enjoyable track that creates some breathing room and also begs to be played again before I move on to the last track which is called Harley Davidson.
The record clearly ends in a good way but the way there is also really good and the clever thing is that the record is no longer than 40 minutes long which is a really good length of an album, it is intensive and powerful with a great breathing space in God Natt Marie and while it still is powerful it is still very melodic and has a really good feel to it.

One of the things that is really important and lifts this album is the guitars but I also like the vocals of Tony Mills who sings really well on this album and you really cannot miss Tony Harnell for this album at least since I have the feeling that if he had sung the album would have been as good as it is now, not better. Compared to when I last heard TNT, I think it is more or less the same in quality, the sound is different but the quality and the amazing guitars are the same.

So to tie it all together, I think this is a really good album, it really rocks. While it rocks it is also very melodic and the focus on the very clean production is great with this record and I cannot do anything but enjoy it while I play it and I think it is an excellent album that has everything that is really needed to make a good album within the melodic rock genre. And with this album TNT really assert themselves as one of the top bands of the genre, the fact that they return a little towards their roots and make one of their heaviest albums ever will probably appeal to many fans, it appeals to me at least. A Farewell to Arms is a great album, you will like it!

HHHHHHH

Label - Metal Heaven/GerMusica
Three similar bands - Million/Bad Habit/Gotthard
Rating: HHHHHHH
Reviewer: Daniel Källmalm