No Rules
Never Give Up

No rules and never give up, those are two features good for someone making any kind of art. Behind the No Roles moniker hides some Swedish guys and this is the second album, the first one was released in 2006 and there was no way for me to find out what they called that album because all it says on press releases and their websites is that they released an album in 2006 and then disbanded to reform again about half a dozen years later. Last year saw the release of this album fittingly called Never Give Up, an album that has received varying reviews where some have been really good while others have been quite mediocre. Now lets see my verdict.

Musically they are somewhere in the melodic heavy metal range, clearly inspired by the classic heavy metal names like for instance Iron Maiden who has a certain Bruce Dickinson on vocals, a man that sounds very much like the vocalist in this band. I don’t think there is really much to say about the stylistics of this album, it is typical melodic heavy metal with catchy choruses, simplistic verses and typical guitar solos – you don’t get anything that you wouldn’t expect. Nothing unique about this album, it is fairly stereotypical and the variation is what you expect from an album like this, it is sensible to keep the playing time beneath 50 minutes and I think that the production can be considered really strong. However, not being unique might be considered a weakness, unless of course you like repetitious music like many heavy metal fans

I think that the conclusion about this album is that it is a fairly solid effort but also a stereotypical album. It sounds like copy-pasted from the past, nothing fresh our unique here and not really good enough to stand out from the crowds. I think they probably will appeal to the heavy metal fans that are fearful of bands diverting away from the threaded paths used by most of the bands. What I tend to think when hearing bands like this is why can’t creative people create something of their own? Then it tends to occur to me that musicians aren’t really creative people and they have a tendency to lock themselves into confined creative spaces and become stagnant as artist and even though they have not made much they feel tired and lacklustre.

The album starts really well and the first tracks is really great, the third track is another great track but then it just dies away and my interest vanishes more and more the further the album goes on. I think it starts out interesting but that interest vanes the further the album goes on and in the end I think it is a fairly mediocre album. It is a decent listen but not something that sticks in the mind and not an album that will figure on any list of best albums of the year or the month, it is an album you listen to, write about and then forget about.

HHHHHHH