Year : 2023
Style : Melodic Hard Rock
Country : Sweden
Audio : 320 kbps + all scans
Size : 111 mb
Bio:
DOMINO DRIVE is a Swedish Melodic Hard Rock band, with catchy songs and sing-along choruses.The Swedish, Uppsala based melodic rock band Domino Drive finally gathered in the summer of 2019, but the original seed was sown back when singer/keyboardist Sebastian Okupski (ex-Loch Vostok, ex-Mayadome) and drummer Alvaro Svanerö (Imperial Domain) began working on some early material Sebastian had written. Philip Borg (Imperial Domain) later joined the band on guitars. Bass player and lyricist Jonas Söder (Sarcasm) heard some early recordings of the band at the HSH recording studio in 2017 and immediately contacted Sebastian to tell him that if the band would ever become active, he wanted to be a part of it. Due to the members' other musical commitments, it would take another two years before they found the time to fully commit to the band. Domino Drive was eventually born in 2019 and a creative flow was instantly found among the band members. Sebastian had temporarily filled the shoes as a lead singer, but in the summer of 2022, the band finally found a permanent singer/guitar player in the outstanding multi-instrumentalist Jonas Tyskhagen (Winding Road), who also replaced Philip Borg. After being offered a record deal with the German label Pride & Joy Music, the band finished work on debut album "Smoke And Mirrors" in June 2023. The album was produced and mixed by Domino Drive at Domino Studios in Uppsala and mastered by Fredrik Folkare at Chrome Studios in Stockholm. The album features guest appearances by JJ Marsh (Glenn Hughes, Hughes Turner Project), Fredrik Folkare (Unleashed) and Tina Gunnarson (Hexed).
Album:
The Swedish, Uppsala based melodic rock band Domino Drive finally gathered in the summer of 2019, but the original seed was sown back when singer/keyboardist Sebastian Okupski (ex-Loch Vostok, ex-Mayadome) and drummer Alvaro Svanerö (Imperial Domain) began working on some early material Sebastian had written. Philip Borg (Imperial Domain) later joined the band on guitars. Bass player and lyricist Jonas Söder (Sarcasm) heard some early recordings of the band at the HSH recording studio in 2017 and immediately contacted Sebastian to tell him that if the band would ever become active, he wanted to be a part of it. Due to the members' other musical commitments, it would take another two years before they found the time to fully commit to the band. Domino Drive was eventually born in 2019 and a creative flow was instantly found among the band members. Sebastian had temporarily filled the shoes as a lead singer, but in the summer of 2022, the band finally found a permanent singer/guitar player in the outstanding multi-instrumentalist Jonas Tyskhagen (Winding Road), who also replaced Philip Borg. After being offered a record deal with the German label Pride & Joy Music, the band finished work on debut album "Smoke And Mirrors" in June 2023. The album was produced and mixed by Domino Drive at Domino Studios in Uppsala and mastered by Fredrik Folkare at Chrome Studios in Stockholm. The album features guest appearances by JJ Marsh (Glenn Hughes, Hughes Turner Project), Fredrik Folkare (Unleashed) and Tina Gunnarson (Hexed).And it's no surprise to hear a haunting keyboard intro on the 1st track, "Starlet Queen", a colourful, AOR-esque track with a more than elegant melody. The stage is set, and with a transcendent guitar solo, Domino Drive lay the foundations for their melodic rock, supported by Jonas Tyskhagen's warm voice, the melodic momentum developing further on "Never Give Up", as rhythmic and melancholy as ever. In "Hollywood Nights", the guitar unleashes its fury over a more square intro, and the choirs take over to support the vocalist: it's a rock track mastered from A to Z with brio. But Domino Drive know how to vary their compositions: the very FM "What About Us", with its enticing keyboards, reminiscent of the 80's and Bon Jovi, takes off in an irresistible way, a key moment on Smoke And Mirrors.Maria Dolorosa", with its sumptuous keyboards, is another melodic delight, well paced by perfectly tuned drums. It's certainly very classic, very AOR, but the listener will be carried away by this eloquent Scandinavian breath, sometimes reminiscent of Europe, H.E.A.T. or Eclipse. The album's title track, 'Smoke And Mirrors', then arrives, absolutely resplendent, still with those magnificent aerial keyboards and beautiful vocals, a moment of intense pleasure, reminiscent of the finest hours of the 80s (Journey, Foreigner, FM for example).The melancholy ballad 'The Girl Who Never Was' sees Tina Gunnarsson join Jonas Tyskhagen on the mic for a poignant duet with a beautiful acoustic guitar: the magic is working! Cul-De-Sac" is heavier and more upbeat, but still melodic and catchy. And the well-crafted finale with "The Jester King", with its imposing backing vocals and haunting rhythm, followed by "Make Waves", with its keyboards and melodic accuracy, definitively consolidates the good impressions made so far.The Swedish band's album is a great success, and it's a nice surprise in itself, because even if the very conventional aspects of melodic rock are present, the quality of the compositions shines through, and the musicians' fine work of innovation stands out as you listen to the album. Simply remarkable!
Line Up:
Jonas Tyskhagen - vocals , guitar
Jonas Söder - bass
Alvaro Svanerö - drums
Sebastian Okupski - keyboards
+ guests:
JJ Marsh
Fredrik Folkare
Tina Gunnarson
Tracklist:
01. Starlet Queen
02. Never Give Up
03. Hollywood Nights
04. What About Us?
05. Maria Dolorosa
06. Smoke And Mirrors
07. The Girl Who Never Was
08. Cul-De-Sac
09. The Jester King
10. Make Waves
Download links for all albums only on our blog here: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/
