Melodic rock/AOR
Frontiers Records will release the self-titled debut album from Scandinavia’s The Magnificent on November 4th in Europe and November 1st in North America. The Magnificent is an alliance forged by Circus Maximus singer Michael Eriksen from Norway and Finnish producer/guitarist Torsti Spoof (of Leverage fame). The rest of the band includes Rolf Pilve on drums, Sami Norbacka on bass and Jukka Karinen on keyboards. Collectively, they bring a dazzling blend of melodic and prog rock that works better than most bands trying to mesh these genres together.
Regarding the project, Torsti Spoof had this to say: “A lot of my musical influences come from the 80`s and I always wanted to make an album in that spirit. Now the dream has come true! This one was truly a joyride…I think together we`ve made a perfect blend of the old school songwriting with a big up to date sound”.
The record is equally heavy with keyboards and guitars, recalling the “Out Of This World” days of Europe. However, there is a lot of bite in the riffs and contemporary songwriting more along the lines of Eclipse or Brother Firetribe. The vocals are nothing short of amazing. AOR fans are sure to love this one from start to finish, but I find the more melodic numbers most satisfying, especially “Memories”, “Angel”, “Love’s On The Line”, and “Lost”.
iPOD-worthy: 3, 4, 6, 11
The Magnificent – More info here.
