Sweden. I don’t know how they do it. They’ve got so many bands over there, and they seem to cover every type of music I like. From melodic rock to power metal, through to punk, there’s always another one. Then you’ve got Confess, whose fourth album, “Metalmorphosis”, begins by reminding you just how much fun sleaze can be.
“Colorvision” is resolutely 1980s. The chug, the arena intent, the sense that the chorus ought to be accompanied by a few thousand raised fists: it’s all here. Confess know exactly what they’re doing, and there’s an assurance about it from the outset.
“The Warriors” has a groove you might not have heard since Skid Row in about 1989. Then the harmonica solo arrives and sounds absolutely filthy. As it should. It’s a glorious addition, and “Wicked Temptations” keeps the vibes coming, with harmonies stacked even higher than the sleaze.
The title track broadens things out. There’s a little more of a power metal edge here, and it could only really have come from a European band. The keys are glorious, and the extra ambition suits them. Already, the album title is beginning to make sense.
“Beat Of My Heart” brings a touch of class as the acoustics come out. There’s room for something gentler among all this swagger, and John Elliot has the voice to make it work. You might know him from Crashdiet, and across this record he shows how comfortably he can handle everything Confess throw at him.
“Pursuit Of The Jenny Haniver” returns to the sound you suspect is their hinterland, and this heavier stuff is mighty. “The Other Side”, meanwhile, has the self-assured chug of fans who have made exactly the record they wanted to make. You can hear the pleasure they’re taking in it.
By this point, though, the metal in “Metalmorphosis” is becoming increasingly significant. I probably didn’t have a proper metal gallop on the bingo card when I pressed play, yet here we are with “Running To My Death”. “Plague Of Steel” keeps that feeling going, its twin guitars giving the second half another helping of muscle.
Then there’s “Silvermalen”. Sabaton themselves would be proud of the opening here, and things toughen up again as the pagan feel takes hold. It’s quite a journey from the sleazy groove of those early tracks, and Confess sound thoroughly at home at this end of the spectrum too.
The bonus version of “The Other Side” straddles both worlds brilliantly, rounding off a record that has rather more going on than its opening might suggest. Four albums in, Confess are still ready to change. “Metalmorphosis” gives them plenty of room to do it, with the choruses and the confidence to carry the whole thing through.
Rating: 8/10
