Air Raid
Across the Line

Nostalgia is the word that best describes my thoughts about this album, the third from the Swedish quintet Air Raid. It looks like a blast from the past with its black cover, the look of the band and the photos – the cover as well and perhaps even the quote on the backside. They are aiming for the sky with iron will, and they do so with their most creative album so far, according to the press sheet. If this is their most creative effort I think I can smile and consider myself lucky that it is the only one of their albums that I have heard because this isn’t exactly something I would describe as creative.

It is heavy metal akin to what was done in the late eighties early nineties with a style that feels about as dated as most albums from that era but without the same sense of originality that the best of those albums had. The vocalist is okay though rather typical of the genre. The production feels quite dated and the songs are rather typical of this genre. Originality isn’t exactly a word that can be connected with this album, it is a rather typical nod back to times long gone and long since past, a rose tinted view of a past that never was as good as these guys would imagine and the music wasn’t really that great either.

So what about Air Raid’s new album then? Well, for one it never crosses any line, it is probably a safe bet for those who like copies of old heroes. The songs are okay and the album as a whole is not bad at all, perhaps even good in some way – it is just that it quite becomes rather dull rather quickly and isn’t exactly an album that tempts me to listen again. I would much rather play one of the old albums again and never really warm up to this album – it is quite boring, plain and simple.

I think I have had it already with nostalgia, there are just too many albums that play the nostalgia card that are released nowadays and that is just boring. I think music as everything should be forward thinking instead of looking backwards like this album. I think a bit more creative thinking wouldn’t have hurt, because even though this album is okay it is hard to muster up any kind of enthusiasm for just another trip down memory lane. For some reason I cannot fathom Swedes seems to be masters of nostalgia and this is just another nostalgic album from a Swedish band.

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