Blessed by a Broken Heart
Pedal to the Metal

Never judge by appearances, the proverb says, but in this case, I'd say nothing explains this album better than the incredibly gaudy cover: indeed, here we have a record that oozes flashiness from every pore. Sonic excess that sublimates into 11 tracks halfway between "new school" metalcore (the softer kind, to be clear) and 80s hard rock: the result of such a mix is original but surprisingly works, and although the album itself doesn't seem to take itself too seriously, its more intense tracks ("Carry On", "She Wolf", "She's Dangerous") certainly leave more serious and celebrated metalcore bands eating dust, while among the more carefree ones, you can't help but mention an epic-sized bomb like "Move Your Body" or the irresistibly 80's "To Be Young" and "Doing It".

In short, inspired riffing, wolf howls, keyboards galore, a trio of magnificent gallops at the beginning ("She Wolf"/"Show Me What You've Got"/"She's Dangerous"), breakdowns that are just right (not too much), all seasoned with a pleasant freshness and variety that is always welcome in a genre that often churns out only monolithic records or copies of other albums... if you think you might appreciate all this, Pedal To The Metal will entertain you quite a bit.