Malison Rogue – Malison Rogue

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Malison Rogue’s press biography tells us that apparently the band are part of a Swedish metal revival movement alongside Enforcer and Steelwing. Really folks, are we resorting to riding on the coattails of pure nostalgia outfits now? That seems rather desperate. Malison Rogue don’t particularly sound like either of these, instead going for a hard rock/heavy metal sound that’s just a bit too heavy on the power ballads and not enough of the fast mayhem you’d associate with the likes of Enforcer. It takes real songwriting talent, musicianship and charisma to make a really good, mid-paced hard rock record work, and there are bands that do really well with it (Gotthard, and to a certain extend Edguy strike me as two notable examples from the last ten years). However this debut, whilst having all the pieces of a decent rocker and a competent production, simply fails to put the pieces together correctly. There are all the expected metal flourishes but the songwriting connecting them together fails to work. Nothing makes a lasting impression, from the singer’s Kiske-lite singing through to the unexciting song structures. This leaves us with an album that doesn’t feel engaging and is frankly rather forgettable. It’s never truly bad but that’s about as much as can be said about it – it’s mediocre metal and that’s never, ever a good thing. The band probably make for an alright opening act at a summer festival but as a band in their own right, this just doesn’t cut it at all.

Written by James Donovan
More: 2011, Albums, Heavy Metal, Quick.Play Reviews, Malison Rogue