Crossfade
Carousel

Last time they released something it was quite celebrated here at Hallowed, Crossfade’s album Secret Love from 2011 is one of few that has received a rating of six at Hallowed. Since then there has been no new albums from the band but I couldn’t help being a bit excited about a new one, I actually even found the old promo record lying around when digging through all the crap I have at home. This new album called Carousel is their third one and it comes on vinyl and features five tracks, all of them pretty long with the shortest being just short of six minutes and the longest a little bit over nine minutes, so it is a short album with pretty long tracks.

The style is westcoast or AOR, very melodic rock music with very strong production and strong melodies. The long tracks and low pace makes the album seem a bit on the slow side, kind of like it is missing a pacier hit songs to tease the interest of the casual observer. The vocals are good, the production is excellent but I do think some might consider this album a bit overworked, a bit overproduced. And that is despite the band claiming to want it to feel as live as possible – I don’t think they succeed very well in that regard as this feels very much like a heavily produced and edited studio album. Something that is often good but it depends on the genre and melodic rock/hardrock, AOR, westcoast and that sort of thing has been done so many times and most of them are quite elaborately produced.

Carousel isn’t really a standout album, but it is probably good enough to appeal to those who liked their previous albums and possibly also to those liking westcoast/AOR and that sort of music. It is a solid effort but a it slow, it feels a bit overproduced and maybe a little bit boring. But it is solid enough to give a few minutes of your time; perhaps it may not be a given investment but certainly worth giving a chance. Is it as good as the predecessor? I don’t think that it is, but I just glossed over that album a few days ago so that isn’t really a well-researched opinion.

So, it isn’t the most memorable album I have heard this year but if you like those melodic rock/hardrock genres it is an album well worth checking out.

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