Hi, you probably don´t know me, my name is Rocio, and I bet you a beer that immediately after listening to Artistic Differences, by Slaves To Fashion, you’ll be humming the songs in your head all day ….
This is the sequence: I get to my room, I take off my shoes, turn out the light, I slump on the bed and turn up the volume to Artistic Differences … Guess what is on my mind right now … Need some time?… Still having no idea? Well I’ll tell you: Absolutely nothing. Artistic Differences is an album so complete, thoughtful, entertaining, and captivating that has the power to take you away from reality, and make your mind go blank and simply surrender to the clean and melodic rhythm of its music.
Slaves to Fashion is a Norwegian rock band, formerly known as P.O.B. (Pedestrians of Blue). With Johannes Støle on vocals and keyboards, Torfinn Sirnes on guitars, Eirik Solheim on bass and Vidar Ingvaldsen on drums. Artistic Differences is their first full length album under the name Slaves to Fashion, and the album name comes directly from the different musical influences of every band member, that make their music a mix of melodic, progressive and modern hard rock..
The album opens directly with one of the best track, Love You Back just forced my head to bounce against my will, a melody that sounds incredibly catchy and also lyrics that bring us a topic too complex and even philosophical: The unrequited love, but this time the less heard version, the version of the one that, for some reason, cannot reciprocate the love that someone is offering, feeling guilty for not loving back. Right after comes Ms Hero, which is the initial promotional single of the album. It flows smoothly and immediately goes into action as following the thread of the first song. A very rhythmic song that can get you in one second, the singer shows his great technique to make sweet and warm harmonies, a dynamic song that hypnotizes with its rhythm without you noticing. Made to Meet My Eyes develops throughout the song a same passionate and enveloping riff, which admits no distractions and seizes all the attention. Superstar (I Want Out) prevails melody to heaviness, and in fact, at times, we can hear the bass doing its magic, a casual meeting that is more than welcome. It’s pretty easy to keep up with the song because its structure is neat and tidy, could easily be considered as a radio song, while, of course, keeps being musically interesting and consistent. Empty Chairs is somewhat emotional and a little darker, with a touch of fantasy and a short evanescent but certainly powerful solo.
Hands is an entertaining ride, but deep foundations lay within music. These guys know very well how to turn a deep song into a catchy and chewy tune. When Left out in the Cold started with a riff maniacally roaring, I told myself: “Myself, This is going to be good” and it was. The emotion throughout the song does not decrease, but rather is enhanced. The recourse of repeating the name of the song several times take effect in your mind, one of those songs that when you first hear it, you feel you’ve heard it before, and when you stop listening to it, you find yourself humming it in your mind . Out of Here is a special song on this album, not only because it attaches a magical appearance of an oboe and a bassoon, but perhaps because the melody of the voice is thoughtful and evokes feelings that do not ask permission to emerge. Libido Ride is the track for those who love the kind of rock traditionally shown in the mainstream. Rhythmic, catchy and light as a feather, but beware, a rocker feather. And last but not least, after every track on the album has been somewhat short, the band comes with a 10-minute track, expressly saying: Hey, we are proggers after all… Facts on The Ground is a declaration of love from the band to the progressive genre, sounding sometimes heavy and sometimes incredibly smooth, with several transmutations and some other musical detail that manages to exalt their sound.
Being totally honest, this record is not one of those to consider “epic” and we drool before its mastery and complexity, but I hear it very often, because I consider it worth highlighting it for being fun, catchy and very well done. Slaves To Fashion has succeeded in the hard task of keeping their progressive hard rock style while making their songs sound light, direct and easy to digest. Their music sounds young and fresh, the crystal clear voice of Johannes Støle is remarkable, as well as his perfect English pronunciation, something that this Spanish-speaking reviewer, always appreciated. The music in short, is painfully catchy and worth listening by progressive ears and by those not progressive ears who are just looking for some adrenaline and good rhythm.
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