Crazy Lixx
New Religion

After their explosive debut in 2007 with the excellent "Loud Minority," the Crazy Lixx return three years later from the cold landscapes of Sweden with a vengeance.

Creators of a hard rock that heavily borrows from the '80s sound, yet without sounding old, anachronistic, or outdated, the four from Malmö pack this new product with 11 tracks, in which it is truly difficult to find weak points or stylistic falls. They always keep in mind the lessons taught by the sacred monsters of the genre (the names range from the usual Skid Row to Poison to Bon Jovi, but in some choices of vocals and counterpoint, it's not uncommon to hear echoes of Def Leppard or even Winger), yet they do not lack in personality or ability; on the contrary.

First of all, the individual technical skills of the members are respectable, starting with Danny Rexon's voice, sweet at times, gritty at others, and leading to the robust Rivano-Cirera rhythm section on bass and drums; on guitar, the "newcomer" Andy Dawson, who replaces the defector Vic Zino (who moved, practically right after the debut album, to the ranks of Hardcore Superstar) without being missed, demonstrating instead great skill and excellent melodic taste in solos, as well as the capacity to compose gritty riffs.

Disc in the player, "play" button, and the fade-in of "Rock and a Hard Place" immediately makes everything clear: driving guitar, penetrating voice, and great choruses, for a refrain that already sticks in your head on the first listen. The ability to write catchy yet never banal pieces, in the best hard rock tradition, is confirmed by the second track, "My Medicine (R.O.C.K.)": here too a winning refrain and a multi-voice central break, perfect stadium choirs to shout at the top of your lungs.

Reviewing the tracks that compose the work, one notices the absence, compared to the previous album, of harder and faster songs in favor of more melodic mid-tempo tracks, a choice that might raise some eyebrows, but if the quality always remains at a medium-high level, there is really little to complain about (listen to "Children of the Cross" where, besides an acoustic guitar intro, there's, as expected, yet another winning refrain; or the dark "The Witching Hour", the heaviest track of the collection). Even on the ballad front, you're on safe ground: those who prefer a livelier rhythm will find "Blame It on Love" perfect, while those who prefer more sentimental atmospheres will not complain about "What of Our Love".

Other tracks deserve mention (the powerful "21 'til I Die", the party-like "She's Mine"), but the coordinates they follow are always the same: choruses that stick in the listener's head and don't leave, a rhythm section always present, and excellent solos, precise, melodic, never over the top.

The "next big thing" of the resurrected Scandinavian hard rock movement, as they were defined after their debut, is back in better shape than ever; the same considerations I've made about "Loud Minority" apply here, that is: anyone looking for innovation should stay away, those who seek just 45 minutes of pure and simple hard rock, step forward without fear, you will be satisfied… once again.

"New Religion": actually a religion almost 30 years old, but still damn current if played with competence and passion like these four guys, credible, current, and even able to compensate for a bit of freshness lacking compared to the debut, thanks to skill and inspiration: an established reality in the crowded Scandinavian hard rock scene, lately capable of producing bands of this genre at industrial levels; a scene in which Crazy Lixx can comfortably consider themselves flag bearers.