GAELERI: "Gates Of Rome"

Rating: RRR
Label: TBM/Roastinghouse 2014
Review by: Urban "Wally" Wallstrom

The reunion and return of Gaeleri after a decade of silence is sort of similar to the fellow Swedes of Dalton, since the opening track inform us to be "Ready Or Not". Everything is professional done and executed as always and the same goes for the production again by Anders Theander at Roastinghouse Studio. Vocalist Anders Vidhav (previously known as Bengtsson and it's the original front man) is the underrated singer as he follow in the footsteps of Swedish singers such as Matti Alfonzetti (Jagged Edge, Talisman, Skintrade), Björn Lodin (Baltimore) and Tommy Nilsson (Easy Action). Perhaps not quite as superb as the latter Swede, but not far behind for that matter.

"Queen Of Time" takes us on a slightly neo-classical and progressive magic carpet ride as the main guitar riff has the Yngwie Malmsteen trademark and style all over it. Very Kashmir-ish too. Tracks such as "Wannabe", "Gates Of Rome", "One Touch", are all great and catchy melodic rock numbers in the style of Alfozetti/Nilsson/Snakes In Paradise meets the U.K. rock of Whitesnake and Thunder. "Entertain You", display a groovier sound and the slightly progressive vibe is back, mostly due to eerie keyboards. "One Step Closer" is a sunny and catchy composition with a little bit of Beatles pop, rock, and AOR ála previous Gaeleri albums and especially A Brighter Day.

I'm however not too keen on tracks such as "Let Your Love Bleed" and "No Boundaries" as they're stuck in second gear and sounds like something Baltimore would leave off their latest release. The closing track of "Time Has Come" rocks big time though and it's overall a mighty decent effort if you're into the above mentioned artists.
gaeleri.com