SKANSIS: "Leaving You"

Rating: 8/10

Escape 2011

Review by Kimmo Toivonen

Switzerland's SKANSIS have a good thing going. Positioned musically somewhere between Bonfire and Gotthard, they have recorded an album of good, guitar-driven melodic hard rock. "Leaving You" should help them to get a wider audience, because it's simply a filler-free album with songs full of energy and good hooks. The influence from their fellow Swiss rockers Gotthard is undeniable, but thankfully the band hasn't tried to re-write their hits.

The album really doesn't have any weak links, each song is likeable in its' own way. The standout track is "Back From War", a very catchy track with an excellent chorus. To get a higer rating, the album would've used a couple of other standouts, but it's a solid piece of work nevertheless. Vocalist Reto Reist has a strong accent that might not appeal to those who want their rock "100% american/english sounding", but there's no denying that he's got the pipes.

Frankly, thanks to the rather weird name and whatever prejudices I had, I wasn't expecting this to be a rather average Euro-hardrock album, but no, I'm quite enjoying this. A strong "8"!

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