Coming at you with a healthy dose of Hard Rock hooks come Finland's Lullacry. With their release of Crucify My Heart (courtesy of Century Media Records) you get some catchy tunes and solid rock and roll musicianship. I once saw the group labeled as Gothic and as I focused on the release I have to inform you that this is incorrect. Singer Tanja has a little more in common with Amy Lee than with Tarja Turunen or Liv Kristine and the music is clearly Hard Rock and not the Doom-laden atmospheric dreariness that is associated with the Gothic genre. I have to tell you that most of the record is straight ahead stuff with a decent amount of tracks that are easily remembered and enjoyed. In particular I favored the first 4 tracks as they just seemed to stick with me as I reviewed the CD. Tanja is also a very beautiful girl which helps sell the band just a little bit more in this day and age where all bands again need to be image conscious. The band itself is lined out with Sauli Kivilahti (guitar), Heavy (bass), Jukka Outinen (drums) and Sami Vauhkonen (lead guitar). Their playing is pretty much straightforward and shows tightness but no real experimentation musically on the release. The drums remain in 4/4 time and while there are some nice lead guitar solos around the course of the record there is not a lot of raving to do on them.
You will find that much of the CD holds the same sort of groove throughout in the musical sense and with choruses not being exact copies but sometimes sounding a little too similar. I did enjoy the piece and feel fans of groups like Lita Ford or Doro might also like them for a little change of pace. It is my hope that they amp this group up a little more on a follow-up or they risk falling by the wayside far too quickly.
Track Listing
1. Alright Tonight
2. Crucify My Heart
3. Don't Touch The Flame
4. Every Single Day
5. Pitch Black Emotions
6. Unchain
7. Nothing To Lose
8. Heart Of Darkness
9. This Time
10. Over Me
11. Better Days
Printer Friendly Page
Send to a Friend
