Fate
If Not for the Devil

Let us now see if these dane’s fate is better than last time I reviewed them, these guys saying If Not For the Devil are back with their seventh album. I was not overly impressed with the sixth which I thought was a bit too ordinary. So what about this album then? It does not have an impressive cover artwork, although last time around that thing didn’t impress either. But then again it is the music that matters and these danes are closing in on thirty years now, it is twenty eight since they released their debut album. So, it is a very experienced band who knows their thing quite well.

Musically it is no surprises, melodic rock/hardrock all the way and made according to established standards. Nothing new or fancy here, kind of the same as last time around. No difference there so it is what a fan of the band can expect in terms of what to get. Good production, strong melodies and choruses just as you might expect from a melodic rock album. They perform according to standard, a high quality production is what I can say. But lacking in originality and creativity. Fifty five minutes of playing time is a bit long considering that the songs are not overly varied and it can feel as though the album goes on like forever.

Yeah, just as last time around I remain a bit underimpressed. It feels like they play it safe, not daring to sway from the threaded paths of melodic rockedness and in the end I find mysaszelf not really bothering to take any of it in. Sure it is well made, songs are quite good but in a genre where good is ordinary and decent is bad it is just not good enough to really make a mark. I think Fate need to sit down and reassess their ideas, they need to do a lot better if they want to make a mark on a genre overflowing with excellence.

I think that the title track is the best one I have heard on this album, possibly by Fate. Then comes nothing other than good songs that fail to make a lasting impression and in the end I find this album ending up in that pile of good albums that I have reviewed that will never again be played by myself. But of course it is not all bad if you like the band, this will most likely appeal to you if do. For the rest of us it is one of those albums, you like it while listening to it and you’ll then forget it as soon as it ends.

A rather ordinary melodic rock album, nothing more and nothing less.

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