Frozen Rain
Ahead of Time

Belgian-German band Frozen Rain release their second album following their self titled 2008 debut which featured a smattering of high profile melodic rock musicians, not that many on this album though. This one however is both ahead of time and has a lizard, that isn’t an easily beaten combination that’s for certain. It also has a very fascinating album cover which does not in the slightest bit represent what we hear on the album but I still cannot help wondering one which planet/moon that image is from. It is not from our solar system as it would not look like that on any of the heavenly bodies we have in this solar system, even though the little moon or whatever it is above the clouds resembles the Earth moon quite a bit. Still, a play for the imagination to wonder how it would be like on that planet and how the hourglass with the Frozen Rain logo got there in the first place as we are not capable of interstellar flight on this planet. I think I know one possible solution though, or two, or maybe three.

Musically it is quite traditional melodic rock, or AOR for those who prefer that kind of labelling. Much space is given for keys and the guitars follow the very melodic path as well, catchy choruses but not the high note singer but a rather more traditional rock singer. The album gives an overall catchy feel in the music, some reviewer I noted said it sound like Bon Jovi but I think that is a bit off as Bon Jovi is a product that is as interesting as a light bulb and Frozen Rain is not, for Bon Jovi selling music and earning money is the prime objective which I don’t think is the prime objective for Frozen Rain but who am I to answer that of curse? The production is not surprisingly spotless and the sound is as clean as a surgeons scalpel. The variation is one on a theme, not that big but there is one and the album has eleven tracks which will take you almost 53 minutes to play.

So is it 53 minutes well spent or 53 minutes you will want to have back? I will have to lean towards the former as the album is good, solid and good. In many ways I would say that it is a rather typical Avenue of Allies album, solid good melodic rock without that little extra final touch that signifies the absolute finest of albums. The songs are good, catchy and entertaining enough to listen to but doesn’t really leave much of a lasting impression once the album silences as the final song ends. It is a difficult genre to be noticed in, the melodic rock one as the amount of music that comes out through it is staggering and just thinking for myself what I have reviewed only the latest year (around 50 albums in that genre) it easy to see why music that comes in this genre has to be very special to make a seasoned music critic take notice. This album is not that special, it is one of those good albums that probably will end up on the pile on the floor for those good albums that probably won’t be played again. You could say it falls short because of the high quality of the genre.

Too say that the album is completely forgotten after being played is not fully true as there is one song, the eighth one The Last Dance Ain’t Over which stands out as one killer track that makes me take notice for a few minutes. This is the only place on the album they really let loose, where they let their energy speak and this rock vocalist really needs to should on top of his lungs to really sound great and energetic otherwise he sounds mostly tired like David Coverdale, so more energy the next time please.

So with one great track and overall a good musical feel I cannot say other than that it is a good album, the title is completely of it should be the opposite but still a good album well worth having a look at if you are into melodic rock and track eight makes it worth your while.