They released their first album 'Throne of Gold' in 2022 and the Swedes of 'Sarayasign', a little over a year later, offer us a second studio recording 'The Lion's Road' which continues on the theme of the world of 'Saraya', fruit from the imagination of 'Jesper Lindbergh'. As I had already mentioned in my previous column, their style takes us back to the hard rock of the 80s with a talent for catchy melodic lines and with fairly long compositions allowing some forays into progressive. Note that the new lead guitarist is 'Peter Lundin' who brings a slightly more muscular playing than his predecessor 'Daniel Blohm' and that, something I did not mention in my previous column, the singing of 'Stefan Nykvist' reminds me more and more of that of 'David Coverdale' which gives 'Sarayasign' a little air of 'Whitesnake'.
On the menu for this new Swedish baby, 10 original compositions for a short hour of listening and, from the start, 'When All Lights Go Out' (see the video above) already highlights the singing of 'Stefan Nykvist' and the guitar talent of 'Peter Lundin' for a first hit of punchy melodic hard rock. Heavier, 'Blood From Stone', unfolds a slow tempo with a chorus that goes straight into your head, then, 'A Way Back' continues on the same type of rhythm, alternating different intensities. Overall, the tempos remain quite slow and we can mention the following track 'The Beginning Of The End' and the title song 'The Lion's Road'. The Swedes also have talent for beautiful power ballads with, first of all, 'Will You Find Me' which highlights female vocals (impossible to know who this very beautiful voice is) and which offers a very beautiful duet with 'Stefan Nykvist', then, 'Love Will Burn' adds a beautiful melancholy composition with a very beautiful, very refined guitar solo in the second part of the title. We will also not miss the final track 'Throne Of Gold Part 2, A Heartless Melody', adding a more marked progressive side, which begins as a ballad and which gains momentum after two minutes and which accelerates the rhythm afterwards , which makes it my favorite of the album.
In summary, the Swedes of 'Sarayasign' continue their adventure in the distant country of 'Saraya' and offer us a new album in every way remarkable which confirms all the good things I thought of them with their first opus and 'The Lion's Road' is intended for all fans of classic and melodic hard rock taking us back a few decades... | |
