Review Summary: More melodic than its predecessor, but overall Air Raid doesn’t disappoint despite its constant vocalist changes.
Heavy metal, as many already know, is a genre that’s extremely dependent upon solid instrumental prowess and the quality of the vocal melodies. Alas, one of the bad things about having a metal band is that it really pisses people off when you replace one of the band members and keep recording, for several reasons; what if there’s no musical chemistry between the musicians? What if the new material is weak? These and other questions many fans make especially when a band replaces its vocalist, and sometimes you even run the risk of destroying your band’s credibility or consistency by making so many line-up changes.
So far, fortunately, this hasn’t been Air Raid’s case. Being another Swedish band belonging to the New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal, to date they’ve had three vocalists, each one participating in a studio album.
Across the Line marks the debut of Fredrik Werner as lead singer, and is also the first record where ex-Majestic Dimension guitarist Magnus Mild appears. Fredrik’s vocals and style are far more melodic than the previous vocalists, which gives a slight change to the overall sound. While on its previous albums the band bet more for a Judas Priest/Iron Maiden punchy sound, here the group adds some touches of 80s power metal and American melodic hard rock to its traditional heavy sound. In addition to the vocals, this is particularly noticeable in the guitars sound, both in approach and in tone, and the production, which makes the album’s sound less modern and more like something that could have easily come out of some real 80s act – and not the worst ones.
Air Raid’s mix of heavy/power metal with some melodic tendencies occasionally brings to mind Demon’s
The Unexpected Guest, sometimes Yngwie Malmsteen’s 80s stuff and especially Rainbow’s Joe Lynn Turner era, and while there may be some drawbacks with the latter (80s Rainbow is not for everyone), songs like the mid-tempos "Line of Danger" and "Black Dawn" show the band adopting hard rock stylistics without committing the same mistake that many melodic bands make; add too much melody and therefore making the songs sound dull and boring. Some choruses may be a little cheesy or AOR-sounding for some, though, but the songs definitely still contain lots of energy and the band doesn’t seem incompetent in this vein.
I partly suspect that this slight change also has to do with the previous projects the new members were involved before joining Air Raid. Singer Fredrik Werner worked on a pop rock/AOR band, Osukaru, while guitarist Magnus Mild was playing power metal in Majestic Dimension. However, as I said before, the sound change doesn’t represent a massive drop in quality regarding band’s previous works and the music doesn’t come close to AOR territory. Don’t expect a keyboard-dominated sound or a power-ballad. Instead we got fast tracks like "Cold as Ice" or the opener "Hold the Flame", worthy successors to the rockers on
Point of Impact, with solid intensity and fierce riffs to support Fredrik’s vocal performances. The new combination of guitarists Magnus Mild and co-founder Andreas Johansson fortunately works well here, displaying their skills especially in the more power-influenced tracks, the instrumental "Entering the Zone Zero" and the album’s highlight and lead single "Aiming for the Sky", both betting more for an epic and complex sound, particularly reminiscent of some Malmsteen’s 80s works. The band really does a good job mixing heaviness with melodies, as neither of both elements is overexploited on this album, and this is demonstrated with songs like "Northern Light".
Across the Line is simply a throwback to the metal sound of 1980s. This alone probably won’t be surprising, as countless other revival acts have been doing the same thing. However, the good points of Air Raid don’t end with the "retro" sound, and calling them just "another retro act" doesn't do them any justice. If you have a desire for new music made in a manner that doesn't sound too familiar to what you already know about, this album probably isn't one for you. But if you really like the classic, old school heavy metal sound, then this Swedish band undoubtedly deserves to get at least a check.
