Road To Ruin - Road To Ruin
Metal Heaven

file under Hardrock / AOR

Sjak: When guitarist Lars Chriss and bass player/keyboard player Sampo Axelsson came together in 2005 with the intention to write the material for the new Lions Share album, a lot of ideas came to the surface which were not really suited for the traditional heavy metal style of Lions Share. Both were of the opinion that this stuff was just too good to be ignored and Sampo then proposed to record the material under another name. Thomas Broman (among others Electric Boys and H.T.P.) was found to play the drum parts and in Matti Alfonzetti (Skintrade, Jagged Edge, Alfonzetti) they found the perfect vocalist. In the end the project was gift wrapped under the name Road To Ruin and their material will see the light of day when the debut album will be released via Metal Heaven Records on October 26th.

Style-wise Road To Ruin can be placed in the end seventies/beginning eighties timeframe and the influences of bands like Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Whitesnake, Thins Lizzy to name a few clearly shine through. For those of you that count these names to their absolute favourites and who aren’t afraid of a modern sound, Road To Ruin will serve their needs. Groove plays a very important factor in the overall sound of the band, which is showcased in great songs like ‘Pale Rider’, ‘Pleasure And Pain’ and ‘Face Of An Angel’. Guitarist Lars Chriss shows that he’s very capable of playing this kind of material and the keyboard support of Sampo is of the same level. Vocalist Matt Alfonzetti, who recently wasn’t exactly to be found in the spotlights either, contributes his parts very convincingly as well.

Classic hard rock, that’s exactly what you can find on this Road To Ruin record and it has to be said that it is brought in a very convincing way. Personally I like Lions Share just a tad better, but I truly hope that Lars and Sampo will not leave it at just this one record. Nice album!

Rating: 78/100 (details)

http://www.roadtoruin.org