LOVE.MIGHT.KILL – Brace For Impact (2011)

“Brace For Impact” is the debut album from German / Italian band Love.Might.Kill.

The big name in this act is former Metalium / Firewind / Uli Jon Roth, drummer Michael Ehré, though don’t let his presence fool you.

Love.Might.Kill plays heavy rock, but definitely not in the same atomic-thunder way of the aforementioned bands. They’re focused in melodies than power, sounding on many tracks definitely modern melodic hard rock.

The line-up is completed by experienced musicians; Christian Stöver and Stefan Ellerhorst are the german guitar-twin-duo of the early nineties hard rock band Crossroads.

But the real find is italian vocalist Jan Manenti. He has a powerful soaring voice with bags of class and a lot of oomph.

Opener “Tomorrow Never Comes” is a really good starter that shows what is to be expected on the album. This a monster hard rocker featuring heavy guitar riffing combined with melodic vocals and groovy drumming. A dynamic song adorned with subtle keyboards.

“Calm Before The Storm” is one of the heavier tracks on the album, a crushing fast tempo in the ’80s Helloween style with an impressive guitar work.

“Pretty Little Mess” is one of the highlights. Classic hard rock influenced by Whitesnake with a modern sound and production. Excellent vocals and melody.

If you like Black Sabbath’s Tony Martin-era, you will love “Caught In A Dream”. Dense guitars and epic chorus, and a very good retro keyboard solo included.

Title track “Brace For Impact” is another good hard rocker, with a groovy atmosphere that reminds you Rainbow/DIO, and Whitesnake during the pre-chorus.

“We Are The Weak” has a very eighties vibe, a midtempo rocker with catchy chorus, a melodic guitar solo and haunting vocals.

The double drum attack of “Down To Nowhere” and specially the vocal part bring to mind Masterplan of Allen-Lande works.

“Pray To Your God” is a commercial yet lyrically dark tune, with clean guitars and orchestrated keys, followed by the pretty generic hard rocker “Reach Out”.

The disc ends with the dynamic “Will Love Remain”, a song with lots of variations and interesting lyrics about the mankind destroying themselves by killing the planet step by step.

“Brace For Impact” is an impressive debut album, dynamically varied and very well produced & recorded.

Love.Might.Kill is on the end side of the traditional melodic hard rock genre, blending their music with classic heavy sounds influenced by the ’80s, but modern and fresh.

They have a great vocalist who carries the songs with his splendid pipes giving them another dimension. The guitars are sharp and precise accompanied by a groovy rhythm section.

With a clean and crisp production by Ehré and an excellent mix by Markus Teske (Saga, Vanden Plas), Love.Might.Kill has delivered a more than interesting heavy-rock album that deserves to be listened.

01 – Tomorrow Never Comes

02 – Calm Before The Storm

03 – Pretty Little Mess

04 – Caught In A Dream

05 – Through The Dawn

06 – Brace For Impact

07 – We Are The Weak

08 – Down To Nowhere

09 – Pray To Your God

10 – Reach Out

11 – The Answer

12 – Will Love Remain

Jan Manenti – Vocals

Christian Stöver – Guitars

Stefan Ellerhorst – Guitars

Jogi Sweers – Bass

Michael Ehré – Drums

??? – Keyboards

BUY IT!

www.lovemightkill.com