Oxidize – Never Surrender
Oxidize – Never Surrender
Self-Released
Release Date: 15/03/24
Running Time: 26:52
Review by Simon Black
8.5/10
Oxidize first came across my desk just at the point where cabin fever was starting to bite in 2020, and their debut album “Dark Confessions” was one of the highlights in what was a very bleak period of time. This Melodic Metal project is the brainchild of guitarist Per Stålfors, who is literally the only musician from that release still in the line-up. Having missed the interim “Stand Up For The Massess” EP from 2022, this is consequently quite a jump from my first encounter with the band, and one that took me a couple of spins to get through, because this incarnation of Oxidize sounds very different…
OK, the negatives first…. One thing that impressed me with their debut was the rich and fat production values which gave that contradictory triumph of a sound where every player is clearly and consistently audible, but the overall mix screams of a band working as one. “Never Surrender” definitely shows a drop in the production values and feels a lot more home made. You can still hear the individual elements in the mix, but that overall cohesive sound is missing, so the drums sound a little trebly and in the background, and the vocals vary from being a little too front and centre in some places, but missing some of the reverb and fatness that allows them to stand up when the rest of the band lay it on thick, which tells me that it’s an issue with mixing and mastering rather than cutting of the material.
Then there’s the material, and that’s a different story completely. The songs on here are strong, very strong and consequently they rise above the challenges of the production, because there’s some really catchy and effective songwriting coming over here, with the title track itself standing out as a real live anthemic fist-pumper, which was exactly the sort of things that was missing from their debut.
Performance wise, I can’t fault the playing on here at all. It may be a different bunch, but Stålfors hasn’t compromised on the quality of the musicians here, and as in the past this straight-ahead Melo- Metal structure underlines a nice seam of technical proficiency that shines through in occasional moments of almost progressive brilliance, and some downright jaw-dropping shredding from the guitars. Johannes Nyberg has a very different voice from his predecessor, and that’s probably where I needed to adjust my expectations the most, as it’s a cleaner performance than the gutsier vocal sound of “Dark Confessions”. The more I listen, the more I appreciate the performance, but the problem in the production means Nyberg drops in and out of the mix from time to time, which is a shame because he’s clearly got a beltingly good voice, range and charismatic presence.
That said, this release grows on you, because all of the six tracks on this EP are enjoyable, with that dark tinged Melo-Metal sound that I appreciated back in 2020 still clearly coming from the same place, just a little let down by the production.
‘To My Daughter’ Official Lyric Video
TRACKLISTING:
01. Rockstar
02. Greedy Minds
03. Monsters
04. Never Surrender
05. To My Daughter
06. Mesmerise
LINE-UP:
Per Stålfors – Lead Guitar
Kaj Leissner – Bass
Johannes Nyberg – Vocals
Anders Ström – Drums
John Nyberg – Guitars
LINKS:
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