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GRAND DESIGN
Thrill Of The Night

AOR Heaven (2014)
Rating: 8/10

With former Zello vocalist Pelle Saether at the helm, Swedish melodic rockers Grand Design unleash their third opus upon our expectant souls. For the follow-up to 2011’s Idolizer Saether is joined by Dennis Vestman (Steel Attack) and Janne Stark (Overdrive, Constancia, Locomotive Breath) on guitars, Mats Vassfjord (Chris Laney Band, Scaar) on bass, and drummer Magnus Ulfstedt (Eclipse, Talisman, Lion’s Share).

Thrill Of The Night features ten tracks which should be right up the neon-lit streets of anyone with a fetish for 80s-styled pomp, tease and glorious Technicolor.

Anthems abound on this crisp, golden opus that strategically marries Saether’s high rise vocals, which somehow have the ability to make him sound like a pristine teenager primed for the limelight. Couple these effortless tones with those driving melodic guitars and a percussive attack that aches with subtlety and shine respectively, and you’ve got another well-polished contemporary AOR record which is more than happy to breeze with nostalgia, but also glimmer with its summery, sugary harmonies.

Right from the off it’s clear that these guys know how to dig out huge, infectious melodies and fuse them with joyous lyrics and uptempo chimes. And what better way to introduce the new album than via the triumphant qualities of ‘U Got Me Good’, which is just a sumptuous lump of pop-tinged hard rock featuring a cool, sassy guitar lick and those bubblegum rock vocals.

And it just continues as the band marches on throwing out sweet melody after sweet melody; from the sturdy, fist-pounding anthem that is ‘Rock ‘N’ Roll Heart Attack’ to the more subtle rush of ‘The Rush Is Gone’, with its ever-flowing harmonies where Saether’s vocals simply soar high above the reflective sway. Meanwhile, melodic rock icon Erik Mårtensson (Eclipse) joins in the fun, co-writing the riotous ‘Who’s Gonna Rawk You Right’ and the tremendous ‘You’re The Only One’. But if its sugar-coated ballads you’re after, then look no further than the smouldering ‘When The Greatest Love Of All Kicks In’; a truly monumental track that can be found in the dictionary under the word “epic”.

Thrill Of The Night is such a masterful album, combining hard-edged rock numbers, such as the engaging gallop of ’10 Outta 10’, with some truly wonderful elements of beauty and pomp, hinting at Def Leppard in its ability to fuse delicacy with sturdiness. Boy, have there been some cracking melodic rock releases in 2014 and Grand Design’s latest is another sweet remedy for the soul.

Neil Arnold

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