Pretty Maids

Pandemonium

Written by: TL on 04/05/2010 23:39:39

After sitting through the kindergarten that is Red Warszawa's excuse for music, maybe it's not such a weird thing that I am quite positively surprised when spinning the new Pretty Maids album "Pandemonium", despite it not being music I would listen to at all on a normal day. Sure I like the odd 80s/power/progressive metal record, but seeing as Pretty Maids align just as much with NWOBHM and classic metal, this would normally fail under GR's expertise, and I suspect the only reason he hasn't jumped the gun on this release, is that he doesn't know this band, what with them being a local Danish act. I've heard of them however, and before picking up "Pandemonium" for review, I also had a pretty good feeling that I would be about nine thousand albums behind, when it came to being up to date with the band's gargantuan discography.

Still though, there I was, carrying an impression around of Pretty Maids as soft little poodle rockers, and then this albums opens up all serious with sampled clocks ticking and a snippet of an Obama speech. From that beginning, "Pandemonium" takes me for a somewhat more serious, heavy and epic ride than I had expected. Not that this is at all heavy compared to the extreme metal and hardcore we often review, but still more so than the White Snake-ish love songs I had expected from a band named Pretty Maids.

Regardless of expectations, the opening title track hits me with a display of exactly what I'm in for, for the duration of the album. Traditional, yet veteran-crafted, efficient and hard-rockin' heavy metal of classic orientation. Groovy riffs entwine with super melodic keys in a production that is the most modern thing the disc has to offer, as every other element on offer is exactly the same as those you've heard in a million billion similar bands (mostly plying their trade in Germany these days).

The key thing on "Pandemonium" however, is that instead of sounding like tired old men trying to rehash former triumphs, Pretty Maids actually manage to sound just as potent and relevant as any modern day competitor, despite playing a style that's more tired and overdone than anything out there at the moment. Strict quality control even seem to have taken place, as all songs are structured from well sounding parts, and structured in compositions that waste absolutely no time playing around in dead ends. Everything is impressively streamlined towards adding up to great songs. Such facts make "Pandemonium" a rock solid album, which is more likely to invite you in for more listens, rather than scare you away for being representative of an 'old genre'. Of course, originality is still pretty much a foreign word on here, but when you make up for it with consistency and authenticity, you can never fall too far from grace. I like this, and I suspect avid fans of Classic/Heavy Metal will like it even more.

7

Download: Little Drops Of Heaven, Pandemonium
For The Fans Of: Accept, Saxon, Scorpions, Europe
Listen: myspace.com/pmaids

Release Date 14.05.2010
Frontiers Records

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